Lily Potter and the Castle of Avalon
by Banestar
Summary: Sequel to Lily Potter and the Book of Curses. Lily goes to Hogwarts her second year, expecting a normal year after her eventful first. Instead she finds that Hogwarts seems to be jinxed with many little things going wrong. But Lily and her friends begin to suspect a devious plan to destroy Hogwarts is behind the scenes, and Lily may be the only one able to stop it. Book 2/5.
1. Danger at Diagon?

**Avalon, The Battle of Avalon, 998 AD**

Merlin's forces had overtaken most of the island. Now it had come down to a final stand by Morgana's army against Merlin's forces; the so called "Order of Wizards" and the Knights of the Round Table led by King Arthur. Morgan couldn't believe that even her enemy, the wizard Merlin would use filthy Muggles like Arthur and his rogues to fight her. She knew that the Muggles would simply turn on them after winning the battle. Morgan's only wish was that she could be there to see the alliance fall apart. Even as she knew this fact as surely as she knew the sun would rise over her island the next morning she also knew her followers couldn't stop the two armies.

From inside the top tower of the castle she watched her army fighting honorably against the enemy. They were killing large numbers of Merlin's forces with deadly curses but for every one of the enemy killed two more seemed to rise up.

"Lady Le Fay," came a voice from the door to her room.

"Enter handmaiden," Morgan demanded.

The handmaiden did so. She looked unsure of herself.

"Milady our forces are about to be defeated," she said.

"Yes I can well see that," Morgan said.

"Well with all due respect shouldn't we flee?" she asked.

"Selene," Morgan said as she walked over to her and caressed her hair.

"Do you not look like me?" she asked.

"Yes milady, you asked me to dye my hair and dress in your garb," Sellene said.

"Yes and you have the same body type, I've been slimming you down with smaller food portions," said Morgan. "And you have the same eyes," she said.

"Milady I do not understand," Selene said.

"Oh Selene," said Morgan. "You'll look like me when I kill you," she said.

Before Selene could run, Morgan pointed her wand at Selene and said "Avada Kedavra."

Jet green light came from Morgan's wand and Selene's scream was cut short as her life was ended. Morgan looked down to see the Knights had broken down the door and were entering the castle. She supposed the time had come. She opened her cabinet and took out her prize. It was a Time- Turner modified to go forwards in time. It had always been her failsafe, her backup plan. The enemy would think that she had committed suicide upon seeing her kingdom fall. Merlin and Arthur's arrogance would keep them from seeing that the dead woman was not in fact Morgan Le Fay. Morgan took a deep breath. It had to be done. If she couldn't rule the past she would have to rule the future. She took a deep breath and turned the Time- Turner.

** 12 Grimmauld Place, 2020**

Albus shook Lily awake. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. What could possibly be important enough to wake Lily up early in the morning during the summer?

"Lily wake up, it's my birthday," he said.

Oh right she had promised to wake up early for Albus' birthday. Lily needed to stop making promises she couldn't (or didn't want to) keep.

"Five minutes," she said groggily.

"Come on Lily," Albus protested.

Lily said a muffled "Fine" and got up, yawning. She walked downstairs with Albus.

"I think it's unnatural that a fourteen year old is so excited about his birthday," said Lily.

"Hey this is important, I'm fourteen. At Hogwarts its my transition year from being an underclassmen to an upperclassmen," he explained.

"You have a reason every birthday is important," Lily said grumpily.

The two siblings walked down to find Harry already woken up. He went over to Albus. He ruffled his hair.

"How's my birthday boy?" he asked.

"Great dad," said Albus smiling. "I can't wait to go to Diagon Alley," he said.

Lily left the two to talk when the newspaper headline caught her eye.

"Dad, Hogwarts has a new headmaster?" Lily inquired.

Harry looked up from his conversation with Albus.

"Yeah, Aurora Sinistra is taking over as headmistress," he explained.

It hadn't been surprising when old Headmaster Slughorn had retired at the end of the year. He had been going on 100 and was getting very forgetful. Lily was surprised that the Astronomy Professor had gotten the job but wasn't too upset. The professor was cold but not mean and Lily didn't have a problem with her. Lily yawned again. She needed a good cup of tea.

"So how do you think your new headmistress will be?" Harry asked Albus.

Albus shrugged. "She's okay I guess, a bit strict but I guess she would be responsible," he explained.

"Maybe okay for you," said James.

Lily's fifteen- year old brother walked in standing tall with his trademark messy hair that girls at Hogwarts went gaga over. He was much bigger than Albus who had his hair neatly combed and was skinny and fairly short. As she filled the kettle Lily watched as James calmly strode over to the kitchen table.

"As I was saying she might be okay for a grade- grind like you…" he started.

"James stop insulting your brother," Harry demanded.

"Yeah sorry," he apologized. "What I meant was that I'd rather have an old snooze like Slughorn when I'm pulling one of my pranks then someone "responsible" like Sinistra," he explained.

"You don't want to get in trouble you mean?" Lily asked as she poured the water, which had been heating on the stove, from the kettle into a cup.

"Precisely," said James ginning.

"If what you did with Slughorn in charge was not getting in trouble I'd hate to see what this year is like," said Albus.

"Yeah well not everyone can be perfect you little git," said James.

"Oh yeah," Albus shot back.

The two brothers proceeded to start a pointless argument. As Harry tried to break it up Lily took out the tea bag she had put in and stirred in milk and sugar.

"Boys stop," Harry pleaded.

"OY STOP BOTH OF YOU!" came the booming voice of Ginerva Weasley who looked like a mess, most likely comig straight from bed.

The two boys ceased fighting. Lily's mother Ginny Weasley had an effect on her children that demanded total respect from them. Her yell was a key part of that effect.

"Happy birthday Albus," she said calmly. "But you two are seriously way too old to still be having a sibling rivalry," she said.

"Sorry," they both mumbled.

"By the way James you should wish your brother a happy birthday," Harry said.

"Sure, I love when Albus' birthday comes around," said James.

"Really?" Lily asked in between sips of tea.

"Yeah I love going to Diagon Alley," said James.

Lily had to admit she liked that part of Albus' birthday too. Since Albus' birthday was so close to the start of the school year, the whole family got to go to Diagon Alley for school supplies. Most years for her that had just been going to the candy store and to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. But this year even though she would have to get school supplies for the second year she was going with a friend.

"We're meeting Jane at the Leaky Cauldron, Lily," Harry said as if on cue.

"Great," said Lily. Since she had met Jane Macmillan the year before she had become one of her best friends along with Seth Thomas.

After everyone got dressed, ate breakfast and took showers they went to the fireplace with some Floo powder. Lily was the last in line.

"The Leaky Cauldron," she said as she jumped into the fire.

She fell out onto the wood floor of the big pub. She looked up to see the rest of her family standing up and Professor Longbottom's wife Hannah tending the bar. Ginny and Hannah were already talking to each other.

"So I heard with Sinistra taking over, Neville is now Deputy Headmaster," said Ginny.

"Yeah, he's really moving up the ranks," said Hannah.

Just then Lily heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Nice seeing you again, Potter," said Jane.

"It's good to see you showed up Macmillan," said Lily in mock snobbery.

They both burst out laughing.

"So you heard about Sinistra taking over?" asked Jane.

"Yeah, you here about Avalon?" asked Lily.

"You mean it being flooded? Yeah. I don't much care though," she snorted.

"Why not?" Lily asked.

"It's just a dumpy island. No one lives on it, so who cares if it's going underwater?" Jane asked.

"But it's where one of the most famous battles of all time took place. It's sad to see rich history go to waste," Lily pointed out.

"You sound like Seth," Jane said.

"Where do you think I got the news from?" Lily asked.

Jane snickered.

"Lily lets go!" said Harry and the Potter family along with Jane and her dad stepped out onto Diagon Alley.

As the family walked down the street there was a fair amount of pointing and staring. Lily was used to it, she had dealt with it her entire life. That was how it was when you were the daughter of the man who defeated Lord Voldemort. Harry was a living legend in the Wizarding World. Lily, Jane and Seth had also gained brief fame for their adventures the year before. But the public just knew that they had helped capture a Death Eater, no details. In the high paced media of the Wizarding World this had become old news.

"What're we getting for school supplies?" asked Jane.

"First we need new textbooks for Charms," said Lily.

The girls spent the rest of the day getting supplies from their list. The two finally ended up in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Jane had been particularly captivated, by the upgraded Extendable Ears. Lily couldn't afford it now but remembered to put it on her list for Christmas. The day had gone great until they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to head home.

Lily had fallen behind the rest of the group when she heard two shadowy figures talking.

"Yes they're very intelligent, genetically engineered," one voice said.

"They'll work well I think," said a lower voice.

"Good, the Dark Lady will be pleased with us," said the first voice.

Those words made Lily's blood run cold. She remembered that Alecto Carrow had mentioned the Dark Lady in the Forest last year. If she actually existed… Lily didn't want to think about it. She walked in the direction she had heard the voices but the two figures had disappeared.


	2. Buzzing at Hogwarts

Lily went to her usual compartment on the Hogwarts Express to find that Jane and Seth were already sitting in it. She sat down next to Seth.

"Hello Seth, how was your summer?" she asked.

"It was fine," Jane interrupted.

Seth shot Jane a look.

"I can answer on my own," he said.

"All right, all right," Jane conceded, holding up her hands.

The rest of the ride went by quickly with the trio making small talk about how their summers were. More than once Seth expressed his remorse over Avalon's flooding.

"It's a disaster. It's like a museum of knowledge being submerged," he said.

"More like a bunch of dust being cleaned out," Jane said.

Lily had decided not to bring up what she had heard in Diagon Alley. It had probably been nothing and even if it was something what could they do? She just had to hope for the best. The train stopped and minutes later they entered into the Great Hall. Lily and Jane sat at the Hufflepuff table while Seth took his place at the Gryffindor table. Lily talked to some of the other Hufflepuffs in her year; Ethan Jordan, Grace Dawes, the Scamander twins and Irene Alou. She also knew a number of older students from the Quidditch Team. The Hall quieted down as Neville Longbottom the Herbology teacher started to speak.

"As deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts I'll be starting the sorting of first years," he explained.

He pulled out the Sorting Hat which broke into song about the Founders and their houses.

"Kinda weird watching the Sorting your second year," Jane whispered to Lily.

Lily remembered with chagrin her sorting. The Sorting Hat had quickly sorted her into Hufflepuff. Students had been surprised at a "mighty Potter" being sorted into lowly Hufflepuff, especially since all the Potter- Weasleys before had been sorted into Gryffindor. But eventually she and everyone else had adjusted, and she had proved how great Hufflepuffs could be.

Snapped back into reality she realized they had already gotten to "C's" in sorting. No one she really knew was sorted into Hufflepuff except for Robin Wood the daughter of former pro Quidditch player Oliver Wood. Lily had met her once when her father had gotten her Wood's autograph when she was seven. The Hufflepuff table cheered extra hard when they got her.

"We're stealing one from Gryffindor every year," Elliot Applebee, the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain commented.

After the Sorting ended Neville sat down next to the other major staff members Professor Bones, Professor Flitwick, Professor Krum and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Loren Butler. Sinistra, the new Headmistress walked up leaning on a thin, black cane.

"Attention all new students, before you start your feast I want to announce some rules," she said.

She began to list the basic rules about not staying up past curfew and staying away from the Forbidden Forest.

"And for older students don't think that I'm a pushover because I'm new," she said looking at James pointedly.

"One more thing," she said. "I think you all noticed the sheet covering the wall over my head."

Lily hadn't noticed. She looked up to see a white sheet clearly covering something on the wall. Sinistra pulled the sheet off to reveal a huge jewel that was set up on the wall. It had to be quite a few feet in area. It was diamond shaped and glowed blue.

"This decoration was generously donated to us by a former Hogwarts student and should be enjoyed and treated with respect by all students," she said "Now eat."

Lily found no drop in the quality of the feast from last year. As she bit into the roast Jane asked her a question.

"Who do you think donated the jewel?" Jane asked.

"I don't know," Lily said after swallowing the food. "Must be someone with some money," she said.

After the feast was over Seth stopped Jane and Lily before they went back to their dormitories.

"So how did you think the feast was?" he asked.

"Great just like last year," Lily said.

Then out of nowhere she tripped on nothing. As she got up she knew exactly who it was before she even turned around.

"Oh sorry Potter my wand accidentally went off," said Klara Chang flanked by her Ravenclaw friends, Lake and Corner.

"Just going back with my house," Lily said through clenched teeth.

Since the beginning of last year she and Klara had reviled each other and she sometimes found it a wonder how she resisted the urge to throttle her.

"Yes I saw you got that Quidditch player's daughter in your house," she said. "I think the hat must be drunk to put her in Hufflepuff but I guess she may turn out good despite being exposed to you," she said.

"Better with you and your friends," Lily shot back.

Klara laughed.

"Anyone would be better with me, except maybe you. But I've got to get back to my house. Ta ta!" she finished walking away.

"Looks like Klara's going to be an arse again this year," Jane said snidely.

"For sure," Seth said. "Well I'll see you guys for our first day of classes tomorrow," he said.

Lily and Jane walked down to the Hufflepuff Basement. They entered into the Common Room. Soon they were deep into a game of Wizard's Chess. But Lily's mind wasn't on the game. She knew she should really tell Jane what she had had heard in Diagon Alley. She started to speak.

"Jane about when we went to Diagon Alley this summer…" she started.

"What?" Jane asked.

"Uh nothing just wanted to say I had a great time," she said.

"Yeah I did too," said Jane.

"Great," Lily said.

Lily tried to forget about it, but it continued to trouble her into the night. She lay awake after lights out hearing the sound of Jane snoring. _I'll tell her and Seth soon _Lily decided. But as she started to nod off she heard another sound in the background. It was a buzzing sound like a swarm of bees and it seemed to be coming from above her. Then, seconds after it started it stopped. It might just have been one of the sounds the old castle made. Still, with Lily's unusual life in the last two years who knew what it could be?


	3. James Potter's Marauders II

The next day the second years got their new schedules. Lily anxiously took hers but before she took a look Jane filled her in.

"Today we have Double History of Magic first with the Slytherins, boring of course. Then we have Potions with the Ravenclaws and Charms with Gryffindor," she said.

Lily groaned. Any class with Klara Chang's house was a minus and as Jane had said Double History of Magic was sure to be incredibly boring. Charms wasn't too bad though and Gryffindor was surely the most bearable of the houses, mostly due to Seth.

History of Magic was as boring as Lily had expected with Binns droning on about a Werewolf Civil War which he managed to make boring with long descriptions about the leaders of the two sides. Lily had to wonder how the class managed to stay awake. Next in Potions Professor Krum was showing them how to make Sleeping Potion. Lily partnered with Jane. Unfortunately they made a few mistakes and had to start over. Jane yawned.

"This potion is really strong," Jane said. "I'm getting tired just making it," she finished.

The two girls broke down giggling until Professor Krum told them to focus. They managed to put together a fairly good potion. Finally Charms came. Seth sat with them as Flitwick taught them the Water charm, "Auguamenti". Lily enjoyed the first part of the class where Flitwick told about the historical context of the charm. Apparently, in a recent development her Aunt Hermione had made a water blasting charm by combining the charm with the blasting curse "Confringo."

Once they were in a group with Seth Lily thought of telling them about what she had heard in Diagon Alley but was distracted by getting the spell right. Only Seth seemed to be getting it.

"Why isn't this working?" Jane asked exasperatedly.

Nothing was coming out of her wand while just a few drops came out of Lily's into the goblet that Flitwick had given them all.

"You're swishing your wand in patterns too straight," he said. "It's curve up curve down like a sideways S," he said.

He demonstrated and a jet of water sprayed from his wand into the cup. Lily tried it. A choppy stream went into her cup.

"That's better, Lily," Flitwick squeaked as he came over.

Then suddenly Jane's wand backfired and the water shot up into her face. She spit out water and Lily resisted the urge to laugh. It looked like Seth was trying to do the same.

"One word from either of you," said Jane "And I will hex you."

The rest of the week went by in a blur. In Herbology, Neville had them watering Oblivoleaves. They had to be careful because if they touched the plants it would wipe a small portion of their memory if they touched them.

In D.A.D.A. they were learning the Curse of the Bogies, which was interesting despite a long wait for Professor Butler to get her lesson together. The American professor was disorganized and it was not uncommon for her to take a while to get the lesson started. Lily was partnered with Irene Alou while Seth was partnered with Jane.

"I'm so scared I won't get this," Irene said "You ready?" Irene asked.

"Yes," Lily said.

She didn't understand why Irene was so worried. It was only their first class. As they started practicing Lily realized Irene had no reason to worry. She did even better than Lily. They finished up. The last subject of the day was Transfiguration, Lily's best subject. She was easily able to turn a hat into a rabbit.

"Nice work, Lily," Professor Bones said as she passed by.

The next week Lily had still not told Seth and Jane about what she had heard in Diagon Alley. Now she was sitting with Seth and Jane at lunch where they were arguing over Quidditch teams.

"The Tutshill Tornados are the best team in Quidditch, Seth. Five titles in ten years! When's the last time Cannons have one?" Jane stated.

"Not much recently but we still have more wins _over all_," he pointed out.

"Not for long at the rate we're winning," Jane argued back.

"What do you think, Lily?" Seth asked.

"Hey I'm a Harpy for life," Lily said referring to the Holyhead Harpies an all women's team that her mother had played for.

Then suddenly she was taken from her thoughts by a piece of parchment that had appeared on her table in front of her. She picked it up and read to see her brother James' sloppy handwriting.

_Dear sis,_

_You have been cordially invited to an adventure like no other. James Potter's Marauders II have organized their "start of term prank" and because of your accomplishment in rule breaking your first year you have been offered a chance to help carry it out. If you accept come meet in the laundry room on the second floor in one hour._

_Sincerely, Your amazing (and quite handsome) brother James_

_P.S. You can bring your friends too_

"Look at this," Lily said smiling and handed the letter to Jane and Seth.

They read it over quickly. Unsurprisingly, Jane was all for it while Seth was against it.

"It's a bad idea to get in trouble with the new Headmistress," he said.

"Please, this is a James Potter prank. It's way too important to pass up," Jane exclaimed.

Lily thought about it. She wasn't too keen on causing trouble, but it was true that her brother's start of term pranks had become legendary during his tenure at Hogwarts. Last year he had flooded all the school's bathrooms, which Lily probably would have noticed more if she hadn't been concerned with bullying about being sorted into Hufflepuff.

"I think Jane's right," she said. "This is something we can tell our grandkids about," she joked.

"Thank you Lily!" said Jane.

"I guess I'm outvoted," said Seth.

After a mildly interesting Potions lesson, the Trio went to the small laundry room where quite a few house elves were magically operating the washing machines. But behind them were a group of students.

"Hey it's our newest member!" James said.

Lily walked over and the Marauders II began cheering. Lily saw James was with his cousins Fred and Roxanne, a Gryffindor named Charles Finnigan and Ravenclaw Jack Colins.

"So Lily who are your friends?" Charles asked.

"I know she brought that one home for Christmas," James said pointing to Seth. "And you're Jane Macmillan aren't you," he said.

"Yeah I am," Jane said.

"How does he know you?" Lily asked.

"You mean aside from the fact that I helped you stop a former Death Eater?" Jane asked. "I tried to burn down a Slytherin banner at a Quidditch match in my first first year," she said.

"You were really a piece of work," said Lily.

"Still am," she said smiling.

"And that's the kind of people I like to hang with," James said. "Now I'd better fill you in on the prank," he said.

He first took out a map, which looked old and yellow. He opened it by saying "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." It was a map of the Hogwarts grounds, complete with moving people whose names were shown on the map. He pointed to a place marked Whomping Willow.

"If you don't already know the Whomping Willow is a living, moving tree on the edge of the Hogwarts grounds," said James. "But using this map I have found a secret passageway to the Shrieking Shack," he said.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"It's supposed to be the most haunted house in Britain," said James.

Lily thought she heard Seth mutter "Brilliant" sarcastically.

"But don't worry that's just a legend," he said.

"The more important thing is that everyone else thinks it's really haunted," said Colins.

"Now here's where we come in," said James.

Fred and Roxanne pulled out two small cubes out of their pockets.

"These are our creations," said Fred.

"We call them Loudmouths," Roxanne finished.

"What do they do?" Jane asked.

In response Fred and Roxanne slammed their fists down on the cubes in unison. Immediately an extremely high- pitched noise came from the cube. Lily covered her ears and the house elves flew away in fright. James put a dirty rag over the two cubes and they stopped.

"That's how loud two are," James said. "We have thirty, that'll be so loud they'll hear it in the castle," he said. "Kids'll be scared from the start, more scared when they realize it's coming from the Shack, it'll be hilarious," he finished.

He tossed Lily the rag.

"Hold this," he said.

"When do we start?" Finnigan asked.

"Tonight," James said grinning maniacally.

The rest of the day went by unbearably slow for Lily. She could hardly wait to help make the prank happen. She had to admit it was a brilliant idea. It would also be fun to break rules just for fun, not because of some evil lurking around Hogwarts.

She went out to the grounds with Seth and Jane and saw it was starting to get dark. They met up with the rest of the Marauders II.

"You guys ready?" Fred asked. They all nodded.

"All right just follow us," he said.

They followed James. They stopped at a humongous moving tree that had to be the Whomping Willow. James started to speak.

"All right we'll be in two groups. Me, Jack, Charles and Lily will go first. Fred and Roxanne you stay behind with Seth and Jane. In five or six minutes we'll call you if everything's safe," he said.

"Let's go," he said.

Lily followed James and the other two boys into the dark passageway.

"Lumos," James said and his wand lit up the path in front of them.

After about half a minute of walking Colins yawned.

"Merlin I'm tired," said Colins.

"Bloody hell didn't I tell you to get a rest before we came," said James.

"Actually I'm feeling tired too," said Finnigan.

Then suddenly both their eyes closed and they fell to the ground.

"What in-," James started before yawning too.

Lily also began to feel drowsy.

"There's something in the air," Lily started. "That's making us fall asleep," she barely finished.

James now succumbed to the air and fell asleep. Things were getting worse. If they didn't get out of the passageway, whatever it was in the air might kill them. Then Lily remembered the rag. She took it out of her pocket and put it over her mouth and nose. She raised her wand.

"Wingardium leviosa," she said into the rag.

Finnigan's body was levitated. She led it out and dropped him outside the passageway. She ran back and performed it on Colins next. This time it took two tries but she managed it. Then she went back the last time for James. She was feeling more and more tired. The gas must be getting through her rag.

She cast the levitating charm again. She led her brother out and then dropped him halfway through losing connection with the charm.

Summoning her last bit of strength and determination she took her brother's arm and dragged him the rest of the way. She finally managed to drag him and herself out of the passage before finally falling asleep.


	4. Snape, Dumbledore and Diggory

Lily opened her eyes to find herself laying in a bed in the hospital wing. She saw she was alone in the room. Madam Pomfrey walked in.

"So Lily I see you're awake," she said curtly.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"You, your brother and his friends were knocked out by gas in the passage under the Whomping Willow," she said. "You were smart to get them out. They would've never waken if they had been left there for much longer," she said grimly.

"How did we get here, are they okay?" Lily asked.

"Your friends and cousins found you. They woke up before you did, it's been a day in case you're wondering," Pomfrey informed.

"But what caused that gas to be in the passageway?" Lily asked.

Pomfrey frowned.

"You'll have to ask the Headmistress, she summoned you to her office when you're feeling better," Pomfrey finished.

Lily sighed. If it wasn't enough getting knocked out by the Whomping Willow she was getting in trouble with the Headmistress. Plus the school year had just started. She figured this is what it felt like to be James. Seconds later her two friends Jane and Seth came in.

"Lily, you're all right!" Seth said.

"Yeah, but I do feel a bit sore though," Lily said.

Jane came over and hugged her.

"What's the big deal?" she asked.

"Well when we found you, you all looked bad but you looked… dead," said Seth.

"Well I kind of wish I was so I don't have to face the Headmistress," she said. "Did you all get called down too?" she asked.

"Yeah we already went down. She gave us all a detention and took twenty points from our houses," said Jane.

"Except James got it worse for organizing the whole thing," he said. "That Sinistra can really yell," he commented.

Lily put her head back down thoroughly not looking forward to her meeting with the Headmistress.

A few days later she walked up to a stone staircase leading to the Headmistress's quarters. A stone gargoyle stood in the way.

"The Battle of Hogwarts," Jane said to it.

The gargoyle moved aside. Lily took a tentative step forward.

"Good luck," Jane said.

Lily walked up the remaining stairs to the office. She walked into the large office and saw no one there. The office was barely lit. In stark contrast to Professor Butler's office everything was neatly organized. There were shelves of books that could rival the library's collection. Sinistra's desk had papers stacked neatly on it. In a back corner Lily saw a stone basin with misty liquid in it. She was about to find out where Sinistra was when she heard voices from the next room.

"I know that you were making Sleeping Potion with your second years Viktor," came the cold voice of Sinistra.

"But you know I vould nev-," started the thick, accented voice of Lily's potion professor.

"I know you wouldn't but a student could have broken into your reserves," said Sinistra.

"I keep vy potions locked avay safely," he said. "Besides the only thing that could have poisoned the Vomping Villow is the Draught of Living Death and I haven't started teaching it," he finished.

The tone of their voices started to lower and Lily strained to hear, wishing she had Extendable Ears. Then a voice came from behind her.

"Eavesdropping Potter?" came a slick, snobbish voice.

Lily looked around to see where the source of the sound had come from.

"It's alright Severus, it's only natural to be curious," came a older, gentler voice.

Now Lily found the source of the voices. She saw that the voices came from the portraits of the Headmasters. She saw the two that had talked were near the end. She walked up to see that they were "Albus Dumbledore" and "Severus Snape." She jumped in excitement.

"Albus Dumbledore, and Severus Snape," she said exuberantly. "I can't believe I'm meeting you, my dad has told me so much about you," she said.

"I'm surprised," said Snape. "Your brother has been here many times and has never once mentioned it," he finished.

"Well that's just how James is," said Lily.

She thought she heard Snape mumble something like "Just like his grandfather"

"He even named my other brother after you both," she said.

"Did you here that Severus," Dumbledore said to him.

Snape didn't respond but looked a bit more compassionate. Dumbledore kept the conversation going.

"I've heard much about you Miss Potter," Dumbledore said. "Defeating a Death Eater last year and before that being sorted away from you family into Hufflepuff," he said. "You have overcome much."

"I'm just glad that someone won the Quidditch Cup for Hufflepuff," came another voice.

Lily looked over away from the Headmasters and saw a portrait of a handsome young boy. He couldn't have been more than seventeen. But what intrigued her more was the engraving under his name that read "A Hufflepuff and a hero."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Cedric Diggory, nice to meet you," he said.

"If you're a hero," Lily wondered aloud. "Why isn't your portrait in the Hufflepuff basement?" she asked.

"I asked not to be. I didn't want that engraving either," he said.

"Well I'm glad you got it," said Dumbledore. "You were a great wizard. A Quidditch captain, a Triwizard champion, a great duelist and a loyal friend," he said.

"Not anymore than anyone else," said Cedric.

"Your modesty betrays you, I was almost getting to your greatest accomplishment in standing up to a servant of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said.

"I didn't even know who he was," Cedric protested. "I didn't even fire a spell before he killed me," he said.

"You were in a graveyard and a shadowy figure threatened Lily's father but your instinct was to fight him and not to run back to the Portkey. That is what makes you a hero Cedric," Dumbledore finished.

Just then Lily remembered something. It had been when she felt bad about being sorted into Hufflepuff her first year, her father had sent her a letter. She remembered his words.

_One of the bravest people I ever knew was a Hufflepuff_. He must have been referring to Diggory. Lily's thoughts were interrupted by the door behind her opening and Sinistra and Krum coming out.

"Thank you for your time Viktor, you are dismissed," Sinistra said in her monotone voice.

"You are most velcome Aurora," Krum said before exiting.

Sinistra put her cane on her desk and sat down before speaking again.

"So Ms. Potter, I assume you know why you're here," she said.

"Yes," Lily responded.

"Then why don't you tell me," she said.

Lily began to speak. She started from the beginning and getting the note from her brother and told Sinistra the whole story, to when she passed out. Sinistra facial expression didn't change the entire time and she stayed silent throughout.

"Your story matches up with your compatriots, so I am grateful you were truthful," she started.

Lily gulped.

"You broke many school rules when you carried out your practical joke, but you did show extreme bravery in helping your friends out," she said.

Lily held her breath.

"As a result I will give no punishment nor a reward," Sinistra finished.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. This was the best result she could have hoped for. She stood still for a moment.

"You are dismissed," Sinistra said curtly.

"But Headmistress, I have a question," she said.

"Then ask," said Sinistra.

"Why was that gas coming from under the Whomping Willow?" she asked.

A look of thought came across Sinistra's face as if she was wondering how much she should tell.

"Someone poisoned the Whomping Willow," she said. "But they used large amounts of the Draught of Living Death and knew precisely how much to use to have the passageway poisoned without the tree dying," she said.

"I don't understand," Lily inquired.

"This was no student prank Ms. Potter, someone meant to harm students," said Sinistra. "I shall be contacting the Ministry about it," she finished.

"All right," Lily said before leaving.

Thoughts were spinning through her head. Why was someone trying to hurt students at Hogwarts? What was their motivation? And did it have anything to do with the voices she had heard in Diagon Alley? As she walked to the stairs she heard Snape's voice again from the portraits.

"You look so much like your grandmother," he said. "I hope you can be as great a person as she was," he finished

Lily just nodded, turned and walked down the stairs. One thing was certain. It was time to tell her friends what she had heard in Diagon Alley.

**A/N: So I know not a lot happened in that chapter but I like to keep my chapters short so I saved more events for later. I promise there will be more action in the next few chapters. Anyway what do you think of the story so far? Thanks for reading and please R&R! **


	5. The Woman at Halloween

Lily was a bit overwhelmed by what she had found out in Sinistra's office. The fact that someone had poisoned the Whomping Willow was one thing, but that they'd been deliberately trying to hurt students was another thing entirely. She felt it was past time to tell Seth and Jane what she had heard in Diagon Alley. She sat down by them at dinner later that day. Her stomach grumbled in hunger.

"So how'd it go?" Jane asked as Seth took a bite out of his toast.

"It went well, I didn't get any punishment," she said.

"Lucky!" Seth said. "We have to serve detention with our respective house leaders tomorrow morning," he said.

"Seth, that shouldn't be too horrible with Professor Longbottom," said Jane.

"Hey it's not like Professor Bones is a hag either," Seth pointed out.

"Wait I didn't finish what happened," Lily said. "Apparently the gas was under the passage because the Whomping Willow was poisoned," she said.

"That's obvious," Seth said, although Jane looked surprised.

"Hold on!" Lily said. "She says it was hard to do and whoever did it was very smart, so they probably did it deliberately to hurt students," Lily finished.

Jane and Seth looked unimpressed.

"I think Sinistra's overreacting," Jane said.

"Why do you think that?" Lily asked.

"Because it doesn't make any sense," Seth answered. "If someone wanted to hurt students they wouldn't do it by poisoning a passage that no one will go in. Besides why would anyone want to hurt kids?"

"I don't know, why would a Centaur be evil?" Lily asked sarcastically.

"It's two different things," Jane said.

"All right then, how about this," she said.

Lily looked around to make sure no one was in earshot. Then she spoke again in a lowered tone.

"Remember when we went to Diagon Alley during the summer?" she said to Jane.

Jane nodded.

"I heard two people talking," she said and paused. "About the Dark Lady.

A look of seriousness came over Jane and Seth's faces. Seth spoke first.

"Lily," he said. "Please tell me you're joking," he said.

Lily shook her head.

"Then why in Merlin's name didn't you tell us?!" Jane exclaimed loudly.

A group of sixth year Hufflepuffs sitting at the table looked at them. Lily shushed Jane and the sixth year went back to their conversations.

"Could you be any louder?" Lily protested.

"Jane's right it's a pretty big thing not to mention," he said.

"Look I didn't want you guys to think I was paranoid, I mean it might even be a different person," she said.

"I don't think there are two many Dark ladies around," said Jane.

"This means we were wrong last year," Seth said. "Carrow is working for someone," he said.

They were silent for a moment. Suddenly, Lily didn't feel so hungry. She sat uncomfortably, waiting for someone to break the silence. She took the initiative and broke it herself.

"Do you guys think it could be connected to the Whomping Willow getting poisoned?" she said.

"I doubt it," Seth said. "As I said it was probably a student prank and no one can get into Hogwarts anyway. It's even more secure after last year," he finished.

Lily nodded. Seth got up.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked.

"I want to check the library for mentions of a Dark Lady," Seth said.

For the next few weeks all Lily could think about was what she had heard at Diagon Alley. Despite her talk with Jane and Seth she still didn't think the Willow getting poisoned was just a student prank and felt that what she had heard in Diagon Alley was somehow connected to it. Even if this wasn't true a Dark Lady existed and had undoubtedly concocted some kind of plan based on what she had heard. She had thought of writing her father many times but decided against it. What was she supposed to say?

"_I heard someone mention something about a Dark Lady, so can you put off your important business as Head Auror to look into it?"_

One day in the Hufflepuff Common Room Elliot Applebee walked over to her.

"Quidditch practice this Thursday," he said.

Lily gave a look of puzzlement before realizing what he was talking about. She had totally forgotten about Quidditch despite being Seeker for her House, and helping them win the Quidditch Cup the year before.

"Uh yeah can't wait," she said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Applebee looked at her strangely but said nothing.

To put it nicely the Quidditch practice went terribly for her. The team overall was decent, but she was so lost in though that she let the Snitch fly right by her head and barely dodged a poorly hit Bludger. When the team stopped for a break Applebee walked over to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a lot on my mind," she said.

"Homework?" Applebee asked. "Because I could ask Professor Bones…"

"No it's nothing like that," Lily said.

"Okay well focus then," he said tapping her shoulder. "We can't defend our title without our Seeker at the top of her game," he said.

She nodded and tried to be more focused for the rest of the practice. But as the days went on she began to forget about her worries. She realized that whatever the "Dark Lady" was planning it probably didn't affect Hogwarts, and the poisoning of the Whomping Willow was probably just a student prank. And on the day of the Halloween feast she was in a great mood joking with Jane about using a Oblivoleave to forget Klara.

The feast was great, possibly even better then the Start- of- Term Feast. As well as food there were many sweets that Jane was taking huge handfuls of. She saw there were also scary decorations that hung from the ceilings. Somehow even live bats had been brought into the Great. The big blue jewel stuck out from the rest of the orange and black decorations. But Lily saw Jane was looking at something else.

"Who's that?" Jane asked pointing to where the teachers sat.

Lily looked to where Jane was pointing and saw by all the teachers was a strange woman with jet- black hair in a dark cloak. She had looked short and middle aged but in a way looked younger in the way she sat. She stared straight ahead not moving her head once. Lily could see other students were talking about the woman and pointing at her.

"I don't know," Lily said.

Then suddenly the woman shifted her gaze for the first time. And Lily saw she was staring at the Hufflepuff table. In fact she could have sworn the woman was staring at _her._ After half a minute she was sure.

"Jane," she said nudging her friend.

"What?" her friend asked.

"Isn't it weird how that woman is looking at me?" she asked.

"Doesn't seem like she's looking at you to me," Jane said.

Lily turned to see that the woman had now turned away and was talking to Professor Sinistra.

"Are you feeling all right?" Jane asked grinning.

"No she just was," Lily insisted.

But she saw that the Headmistress had stood up and was starting to speak.

"Attention students," she said. "I hope you are enjoying your feasts," she said.

She paused.

"I think some of you may have noticed that we have a guest," she said.

This seemed to be an understatement. The entire school was curious as to who the woman was.

"May I welcome Eve Sage who has come from the Ministry of Magic to inspect our school," Sinistra said. "She will be in your classes from time to time this year so I hope you will treat her with the respect that all the staff members get," she finished.

All the students clapped politely. Sage stood up for a moment before sitting back down. Lily didn't clap though. The way she had been staring at Lily was as if she knew her. Lily racked her brain and could never remember meeting her. That night Lily was almost asleep as soon as she was in bed, despite all the thoughts on her mind. But right before she drifted off she again heard the buzzing noise.


	6. The New Beater

Lily was participating in a tense but exciting Hufflepuff Quidditch practice. A Bludger from Owen Smith whizzed by her. She saw Lysander Scamander, the only other first year who had joined the team in the previous year make a nice save. Lily zipped across the field, then dropped down to get a better perspective. She saw a glint of gold from above. She flew up to grab the Snitch. Smith knocked another Bludger at her. She ducked it but behind her she heard it connect with something. When Applebee looked over he immediately started yelling.

"Stop play, time!" he said.

As Lily looked over she saw why. Reggie Harp, a new fourth year player that Lily didn't know well had been hit in the face. Blood was dripping down from his nose and he looked faint. He awkwardly flew down to the ground and the team followed him.

"Are you all right?" Applebee asked him.

The boy only responded with a moan.

"We have to take him to the hospital wing," Applebee said. "Practice is done while we get him to Madam Pomfrey," he said.

As the team followed Harp, who was leaning on Applebee and Iris Finch- Fletchley Lily looked up into the stands. A few Hufflepuffs were watching now coming down to see what had happened. This included Lysander's twin brother Lorcan, as well as Jane and Seth. But still sitting at the top of the stands, remaining completely still was Eve Sage.

"What's her game?" Lily whispered to herself.

Lily had seen Sage watching her a number of times since Halloween, although not in her classes. She had at first thought she was just intrigued at her being a Potter. But she had asked James and Albus if she had been noticing them and they had both responded no. It was another mystery to add to the others she was trying to solve.

When the team arrived at the Hospital Wing with Harp, Madam Pomfrey emerged wearing her typical medical outfit.

"What happened?" she asked.

Applebee pointed to Harp.

"He's been hit with a Bludger," Applebee said.

"Put him down on the bed," she instructed.

They did so and Harp moaned softly.

"Give me some space," Pomfrey said.

The team stood talking nervously for the next few minutes. Everyone was talking at once.

"I hope he's okay-

"He's fine my brother played through a-

"Hopefully it knocked some Wrackspurts out of his head," Lysander suggested.

"Quiet!" Applebee whispered loudly.

Lily turned to see Madam Pomfrey walking towards them.

"So is he going to be all right?" Applebee asked her.

"Well it will take some time to heal, he has a moderate concussion and a broken nose," she said.

"How long?" asked Iris Finch- Fletchley.

"At least two weeks," Pomfrey answered.

"Two weeks! Our first match is in a week and a half," said Applebee.

"Then I highly recommend you find a replacement," Poppy said.

Later the Common Room was in chaos. There was a bulletin posted about tryouts for the Beater position. A crowd of students were clamoring to sign up. Lily saw that the students were mostly the same ones who had been at tryouts. She did notice one new face though. Robin Wood put her name down. Lily was surprised by this considering that she was short and didn't look all that strong. She supposed they'd have to see at tryouts the next day.

However, an hour later in the library Lily was talking to her friends about a very different subject.

"Have you found anything about a Dark Lady?" Lily asked Seth.

"Yes, but its no use," said Seth.

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Almost every major dark witch in history used that title," he said. "But none since the nineteenth century, so it has to be someone new," he said.

"Then let's look up powerful witches of recent years," Lily said. "It has to be someone with talent or Carrow wouldn't have followed her, and maybe someone who has a grudge against the Ministry," Lily said.

"Maybe," Seth said doubtfully.

"You want to play some Wizard's Chess Lily?" Jane asked.

"I have to get started on that Charms essay," Lily said.

Jane groaned. "What's the big deal? It's not due until next week," she said.

"Do you want to spend the weekend writing a foot and a half of parchment?" Lily quipped.

"Maybe I will do a bit of that," Jane agreed.

The next day was the tryouts for Beater. Applebee started to tell them how they would have to learn fast, then the tryout started.

It went badly. No one looked good. Some of the bigger kids were either fast or sloppy, and everyone else was pathetically weak. One Bludger came at Lily so slow that she caught it and threw it back.

"Nice try," Applebee said in an obviously dishonest tone to the third year who had just tried.

"Robin Wood is last," he said.

Robin flew into the air. She looked bored at the entire tryout. Applebee released the Bludger. She sped toward it like lightning. She brought her bat back and hit it straight at Lily who barely dodged the well hit Bludger. The rest of the time went like this and it was soon apparent that Wood was a very good beater. When the tryout ended Lily was sweating profusely after the many dodges she had had to make.

"That was very impressive," Applebee said. "How do you get so much power in your swing?" he asked in awe.

"It's not about strength, it's about good form and I have that," she said.

"I'll say," said Applebee. "Thank you all for coming out but I have to go with Robin," he said lamely.

The pitch cleared out quickly after Applebee announced his pick. No one could argue that they had done better than Wood but Lily although Lily did here one of them mumbling that "she must've used Felix Felicis."

When Lily returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room Jane was waiting for her.

"So, who made it?" she asked.

"Robin Wood," Lily answered.

"Not surprised, her dad was really talented," Jane said.

"Did Seth find anything?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, I haven't talked to him today," Jane said.

"I'll ask him tomorrow," Lily said.

But she never got the chance. And in fact she barely talked to Seth for the next week. It seemed that there was always an exam or individual work in the classes they had together. During mealtimes Lily barely had a chance to finish eating before Applebee had a practice. He was trying to get his new Beater the maximum amount of practice time before the match against Ravenclaw. Lily privately wondered if she needed it. Her skills hadn't fluctuated since she made the team.

The morning of the Quidditch match was a windy one. Lily had eaten with confidence. She was no longer nervous before Quidditch matches. After all she had won and caught the Snitch all three times she had played. After Applebee made his speech (which sounded _very_ similar to the one last year) they flew onto the pitch. The Hufflepuff fans cheered loudly. Gryffindors and Slytherins cheered politely, but the Ravenclaws booed loudly. It seemed to be with more venom than last year. Lily wondered why. Then it hit her. She hadn't just caught the Snitch last year. She had made a fool of Ravenclaw. They would want revenge this year and the level of tension between the houses was high. Lily had created a Quidditch rivalry.

Lily looked down to see the two captains shaking hands. She thought the Ravenclaw Captain grabbed Applebee's hand a little harder than necessary. Madam Bell released the Snitch. The game was on. Lily flew up over the field to get a better view. She saw the Ravenclaw Seeker do the same. She began to fly around the field. She looked back and saw the Ravenclaw Seeker following her. It appeared Ravenclaw's strategy was to get the Snitch by waiting for when she found it. Meanwhile Hufflepuff's Chasers had wasted no time getting started.

"Oh, nice move by Finch- Fletchley and she makes it into the lowest goalpost," Ethan Jordan announced.

Lily cheered with the Hufflepuff crowd. She had known that since their star Keeper Albert Davies had graduated the previous year offense wouldn't be as big a problem. For the next few minutes Lily tried to lose her tail. Unfortunately, the Ravenclaw Seeker proved to be competent and was keeping up with her. Then a large came out of nowhere and hit the Seeker.

"Ouch, Wood hit Edgecombe straight on with that Bludger. Nice play by the young Beater," Jordan said.

After a couple more Bludgers Lily had lost her tail. She saw it was a physical game. The Beaters on both teams were hitting hard and Robin Wood was having a great game. More malicious however was the fact that Ravenclaw had fouled Hufflepuff quite a few times. Even Jordan, normally a fair announcer seemed a bit angry.

"Obvious Blatching there, should be a penalty and there it is," the announcer said.

Applebee scored the penalty to make it 60-10. But a minute later Ravenclaw scored at the other end. Then Lily saw a glint of gold near the ground. Her first sight of the Snitch in the game! She flew down rapidly to get it. She saw the opposing Seeker going for it too. She had started way ahead of him, but the wind was blowing at her. She was arriving at the exact same time as her opponent… and she grabbed it half a second before him.

"Hufflepuff wins! And what a close catch that was," Jordan went on.

Lily had stopped listening. Her teammates met her to celebrate.

"Party in the Common Room!" Paul Otterburn yelled.

The Common Room was chaos, with cups of pumpkin juice strewn all over and people cheering.

"We have a four match win streak over the past two seasons," said Irene Alou looking happy.

"We may never lose again!" Iris exclaimed loudly.

Lily was feeling exhausted and went over to the dormitories. She stopped when she felt Jane's hand on her shoulder.

"You're turning in early, Lily" said Jane.

"Long night," Lily explained.

She passed out on her mattress. The night gave her a strange dream. She was back in the passage under the Whomping Willow. This time she fell asleep and was dragged out by a mysterious figure. After she got out she went over to thank the person, only to see it was Alecto Carrow. Lily woke up with a start. She was in a daze but she thought she heard buzzing again. What was it? _I have more important things to worry about_ she thought to herself.

The next day Lily, Jane and Seth were in the library again. Seth was looking up famous witches in the last century.

"I haven't found anyone who'd have a beef with the ministry," said Seth.

Lily groaned.

"Are you sure you looked hard enough?" she asked him.

"Yes Lily I looked hard enough," Seth said in an annoyed tone of voice.

Lily didn't know why but the touch of annoyance in Seth's voice got to her.

"What's your problem?" Lily asked.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked.

"That little sarcasm I just heard," Lily said.

"Well Lily, I might be a bit angry that you didn't tell me until months later what you heard in Diagon Alley," he said.

"You're still on about that?" Lily asked.

"Well it annoys me that you do this then want me to assist you with your little research project!" he said.

"What! It was your idea to research all this!" Lily yelled.

By now people in the library had started looking at them. Lily noticed her cousin Rose in particular looking up from a book. Jane tried to stop the escalation of the argument.

"Mates we don't have to ar-," she started.

"That's why I don't care for you bossing me around!" said Seth.

Anger boiled up inside Lily. She had barely done anything! She stood up.

"FINE, I'LL DO SOME DAMN RESEARCH ON MY OWN THEN," Lily said.

Now Seth stood up.

"SOUNDS GOOD, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT EVER TALKING TO ME AGAIN," Seth finished.

He took his books and walked to the door.

Jane spoke now "Seth, Lily stop it you're friends for Merlin's sake," she said looking at both of them.

But Seth had already gone out the door and Lily was in no mood to make up. She sat back down at the table. She thought that she had never felt worse after winning a Quidditch match.


	7. The Castle of Avalon

In contrast to the start of the year, days passed unbearably slow after Lily's argument with Seth, like time itself wanted to give her a chance to reconcile. But Lily hadn't done anything. She didn't want to be the one to apologize first. Although she wouldn't admit it she now realized that Seth had a point about the way she had talked to him. But it still shouldn't have been enough to make such a big stink about. It was especially hard for Lily to ignore it with Jane constantly trying to get her to talk to him.

"Come on Lily, he's our friend," said Jane after Potions.

"Then why doesn't he apologize," she answered.

"You know Seth he- he's a Gryffindor with his obnoxious self pride, you're the nice one," she said.

"I'm a Potter, definition of obnoxious self pride," Lily pointed out as they walked.

"Well it's going to be hard studying without him," said Jane.

"Appealing to my selfish side won't get you anywhere," said Lily.

"Well- what about how he helped you last year, when you thought you'd gone mad," said Jane.

Lily bit her lip. Jane had struck a nerve. Seth had been a great friend when she was at her lowest point.

"We have to get to Herbology," Lily said quickly before rushing away.

When she Lily to the Herbology classroom Professor Longbottom announced they'd be working with the now flowering Oblivoleaves in Greenhouse Three. As soon as they walked out of the castle Lily felt the chill of the late November air. With a jolt she realized the holidays would be soon and she was no closer to solving any of the mysteries surrounding her. Lily was forced out of her thoughts when Longbottom asked them to pair up. Since she didn't feel like getting chewed out by Jane she paired with Grace Dawes. Unfortunately the small girl was so timid she wouldn't get within a foot of the plant so Lily had to do most of the work.

"Are you sure it's safe to touch the flower?" Grace asked in her squeaky voice.

"Professor Longbottom said it was fine," Lily assured her.

Lily decided after class that she would try to solve one of the mysteries and went to the library to research the Dark Lady. Unfortunately Seth was correct that there were many throughout history. 

"Seth did tell you," said Jane.

"Shut it," said Lily as she was reading about a Dark Witch that terrorized America in the 1700's.

But it was hopeless. She decided on the only method she could think of. She wrote her father.

_Dear dad,_

_I know that I'm going to see you in a couple months but I really need your help about something I'm researching. I've been trying to see if I can find anything about a witch called the Dark Lady (just out of curiosity) who lived in the last fifty or so years. The library's been rubbish. Maybe Aunt Hermione knows? I'd really like your help._

_Sincerely, Lily_

After sending the letter Lily saw that Seth was sitting with his own house as he had since their argument. She wondered if he was still talking to Jane. She didn't ask, so as not to risk another lecture about why she should talk to him. Her question was answered as she then saw that Jane was talking to Seth, presumably giving a similar lecture. Lily grinned. It served the git right! Jane walked back over to Lily.

"You really need to talk to Seth. He won't say anything to you," said Jane.

"It's not going to happen," Lily said. "Why do you even want me to talk to him?" she asked.

"I just don't like to see friends mad at each other," Jane answered.

They walked down the hall to see Eve Sage silently watching the students pass. As always her eyes bored right into Lily.

"Why is she looking at me?" Lily thought out loud.

"You're still on about Sage?" Jane asked. "She's looking at everyone, it's her job to inspect the school."

"That's another thing, she's been here almost a month. How long does it take to inspect a bloody school?" said Lily.

Jane shrugged.

"It's not my area of expertise," she said.

"Well I think she's up to something," Lily said.

"Whatever," Jane said dismissively.

Before she could go to her first class Lily was stopped by the large figure of her oldest brother.

"Finally, I've been looking all over for you," he said. "Where is it?" he asked looking annoyed.

"Where is what?" Lily asked.

"The Marauder's map," he said.

"How should I know? You had it." Lily said.

"It's been missing for two weeks," said James. "I tore up all my stuff and interrogated all the Gryffindor Marauders," he said.

"Well why do you think I have it, I'm in another house?" Lily said.

"You have the Cloak," said James.

"James, you're being ridiculous," said Lily. "You think I actually used the Cloak to sneak into the Gryffindor dorms and take the Map?"

"So you don't have it?" he asked.

Lily shook her head.

"Cross my heart," she said.

"Then who?" James thought for a second. "Albus! I bet it was him, the sneak," he said rushing away.

After Lily's encounter with James she was busy in her classes. Her professors were working them hard before the typical relaxing period they usually got right before the holidays. Lily got a return letter from her father five days after she had sent hers.

_Dear Lily,_

_Thanks for writing to me. I'm glad to help with your problems. As for your question Aunt Hermione didn't know anything. I do however know of a place you can go to whenever you need something. It's a bit hard to explain but just go to the painting of Barnabas the Barmy on the seventh floor and think about what you need. Good luck!_

_Sincerely, Dad_

Lily re-read the letter to make sure she'd read it right. She hadn't misread. The idea of a room that could provide whatever the seeker needed seemed implausible, but Lily trusted her father.

After her final class Lily walked up to the corridor her father described under her Invisibility Cloak. There was nothing across from the portrait. Despite being alone and invisible she felt silly. But she did as she had been instructed. _I need to learn about the Dark Lady _she thought. She turned and to her amazement a metal door had appeared in front of her. She opened it to find shelves of books lining the walls. There was a desk with a comfortable chair in front of it. It was beyond amazing.

Soon Lily realized that her thought had been too broad. _I need to know about the Book of Curses_ she thought. Nothing happened. This made sense as she thought it was unlikely there were any books on what had been a huge secret. She couldn't think of anything else. Unless… how much knowledge did the room have? _I want to know about the Dark Lady who is around right now._

As soon as she made the thought the shelves disappeared until only one remained. She walked over to see what books were on it. "The Story of Morgan Le Fay", "The Wars of Camelot", "Secrets of Morgan", "Morgan, Arthur and Merlin" were the first few that she saw. Morgan Le Fay was the common theme in all of them. Morgan Le Fay? Lily only knew about the ancient Dark Witch from chocolate frog cards. She was parts of the popular myths about Camelot in Wizarding and Muggle culture. Of course Lily knew that she was very real but she had been dead for centuries. Why was the room giving her information on Morgan? Had she confused it?

Then she noticed that there was a book on the desk. She sat down in the chair and looked at the cover. "Magical Conspiracy Theories of History" by T.S. Cobblestone. She opened it and looked at the Table of Contents. Each chapter seemed to be the story of a theory throughout history. She turned to the first one, The Castle of Avalon Hoax. The page read;

_The first conspiracy theory in the magical world comes from one of its first wars. In the final battle of the Avalonian War most commonly lumped into the other conflicts known as the Camelotian Wars the forces of Merlin and Arthur had broken into Morgan's fortress "The Castle Of Avalon". They found the body of Morgan Le Fay the ruler of Avalon. It was assumed that she, known for being unwilling to surrender took her own life at her own army's defeat. Her body was burned and the ashes thrown into the sea. However some soldiers of Merlin disagreed with his quick assumption that the dead woman they found was Morgan. A wizard who had encountered her said that, "The heathen always had a trick up her sleeve." Also even Merlin admitted that her appearance was slightly different which he attributed to malnourishment. While these facts make the theory seem plausible Morgan wasn't seen or heard from afterwards which seems strange as the entire magical population knew of her appearance. Wizarding historian and Hogwarts History of Magic teacher Cuthbert Binns says "Given the nature of Morgan's personality it seems unlikely she would be content to lie low until her death." These facts make the theory while possible, quite unlikely._

Lily shut the book, crazy thoughts going through her mind. The Room had shown her the book for a reason. The theory wasn't incredibly sound but it had to be correct. She thought back to her father's adventures, Could Morgan have somehow had the Sorcerer's Stone? No. A Horcrux? Maybe. Or…

"Time travel!" she exclaimed.

It all made sense. Carrow would only have agreed to work for a witch as powerful as Morgan. Time travel didn't work between such long periods but Morgan might have been powerful enough to make one that did. She ran down to her dorm to see everyone else was sleeping. She went to see Jane fast asleep. She decided to tell Seth in the morning. She wanted his opinion and this was a good time to suck up her pride and talk to him.

The next day she went to breakfast straight after getting up. She saw Seth already sitting at the Gryffindor table. He was talking to… Hugo?

"Chudley Cannons are built this year," said Seth.

"Best Beaters in Britain!" Hugo said excitedly.

"Seth," she said.

"Their Chasers aren't scrubs either," said Seth.

"Seth I need to talk to you!" Lily said.

Seth turned around.

"Well maybe I'd rather talk to Hugo," he said before turning back to Hugo.

Lily walked away in disbelief. She had just been snubbed by Seth _for her cousin!_

**A/N: So the plot thickens! Lily seems to be close to finding out about Morgan. But what is she planning? How is Eve Sage involved in all this? And since Seth and Lily's feud is continuing then who do you think is in the right? Feel free to Review and give your theories and opinions. **


	8. The Reducing Room

"Have you heard that Owen Smith has a crush on Professor Bones?" Jane asked.

"No," Lily said looking down at her Charms notebook.

"Well I just heard it from Iris. Apparently he thinks she has nice skin," Jane said. "And we all know what that means."

Lily didn't respond. Since telling Jane about her latest incident with Seth her best friend had stopped urging her to make up with him and had instead tried to distract her from thinking about it. She was using her biggest talent other than sarcasm, gossip.

"I can't believe what a git Seth is being," Lily said. "I mean not only does he snub me but for my cousin," she said.

"Just forget it, he'll come to his senses," said Jane "Hey I know something we can do. Let's visit Hagrid," she advised.

Lily brightened. She hadn't visited Hagrid all year. The half- giant was a great friend to her and her family. The gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher was the perfect person to talk to and get advice from.

"Sounds good," she said.

Lily and Jane made their way to the hut by the Forbidden Forest. As they walked Lily talked to Jane about her time travel theory.

"There have been a few sightings of Morgan over the years," she said.

"There have been more Heliopath sightings than that," said Jane.

"But Jane," Lily protested.

"I'm not denying that it's true, I'm just saying you shouldn't assume it," Jane said.

"You sound like Seth," Lily said aware of how whiny she sounded.

"Forget it, let's just focus on talking to Hagid," Jane said.

She knocked on the door. They heard muffled sounds of a struggle inside the hut. Finally the door was opened by a disheveled- looking Hagrid.

"Lily, Jane come in," he said. "Was worry' ya forgot 'bout me," he said.

They went inside the hut.

"Nice to see you Hagrid," said Lily. "We heard noises from inside is everything alright?" she asked.

"Oh is fine, I was jus' trying ter release a Nogtail I foun'," he said. "Anyways I hear' ya had a problem wit' the Willow."

After recounting the story of the Willow the conversation went to school and then Quidditch. Hagrid then told them them a funny story from his Care of Magical Creatures class.

"So why idn't Seth come?" Hagrid asked.

Lily shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"We're not on the best terms with him," Jane answered.

Hagrid nodded.

"Don't sweat it. Yer dad an' his friends had some rows too. They di'nt last an' neither will yers," he finished.

"Well we have to get studying," Lily said. "I hope we see each other again soon," Lily said.

"See ya," Hagrid said before they left.

The visit had succeeded in lifting up Lily's mood. She and Jane were working on a joint essay for D.A.D.A. about the body bind curse. However Lily's mind was on getting back to the Room of Requirement. She had told Jane about her theory but not about where she had gotten it from.

After dark Lily put on her Cloak. She ran up to the seventh floor corridor. The Room opened up as soon as she approached it. But when she walked in and took off her cloak, she found herself in a large room with blank walls. Confused Lily thought again about what she wanted to know. But the room was still the same. She closed her eyes and thought again. When she opened them there was no difference except… _had the room gotten smaller? _Suddenly before her eyes the room was shrinking. The walls were closing in on her, the ceiling getting lower. Desperately trying to think she pulled out her wand and screamed any spell that came to mind.

"Reparo!" she screamed. "Engorgio!"

The spells had no effect. She ran to the door, breathing hard. It had shrunk down to her knees. She tried to open it but she wasn't focused. As she looked up the room had shrunk to the size of a broom closet.

"Help!" she screamed.

She had totally frozen up and was curled up into a ball, leaning against the door. The room was closing in on her. It was barely bigger than a box. She waited for the force of the walls to crush her… and then the door opened and a strong hand pulled her out. Lily found her self in the corridor with the door closed behind her. She caught her breath. For a brief moment she thought that Seth had saved her but when her vision cleared she saw to her surprise Eve Sage.

"Breathe slowly," the woman said calmly. "I have to get you to the Hospital Wing."

Lily was too out of it to notice what happened next. Before she knew it she was in the Hospital Wing. She barely heard Sage telling Madam Pomfrey that she was "in shock". She took a calming potion and was promptly asleep.

The next morning two things that Lily detested happened to her; she saw Klara Chang and she was fussed over. She awoke to see Klara talking to Madam Pomfrey. As soon as Pomfrey saw her awake she fussed over her.

"That was a stupid thing to do Miss Potter going out of your bed at night. If Miss Sage hadn't saved you who knows what would've happened," she said.

"Can I go?" Lily asked.

"You most certainly cannot," Pomfrey said. "You're still recovering from a nervous breakdown," she said.

"I'm fine," Lily pleaded.

The situation could not have been more embarrassing. Pomfrey was talking about her freezing under pressure in front of Klara Chang.

"You were barely capable of functioning last night," said Pomfrey "You must stay in bed at least another day," she said.

Klara was watching with a truly mean sneer on her face. Lily could only imagine what rumors Klara would spread after hearing this.

"So what did you ask me for?" Pomfrey asked Klara.

"Nothing, I have everything I need," the girl said before leaving.

Jane later visited Lily. As Lily had suspected Klara had told everyone that Lily had fainted and had been carried to the Hospital Wing by Sage, which unfortunately wasn't far from the truth. This however wasn't what was on Lily's mind.

"I need to talk to her," Lily said to Jane.

"Talk to who?" Jane asked.

"Eve Sage," Lily answered.

Lily found out that Sage was staying in what had once been Filch's Office. She came in unannounced. Sage was quietly inspecting a ratty old hat.

"Um Miss Sage," Lily said.

"Hello Miss Potter, what brings you here," the witch asked.

"Well, I wanted to thank you for saving me," she said.

"You're most welcome," Sage said.

"And to ask why you're following me," Lily finished. "I know you are, it's the only way you could have known I was in the Room of Requirement," she said.

Sage simply smiled.

"You are a smart girl Lily," she said. "The answer is that I… am your aunt," she said.

"What?" Lily asked in shock.

"Not by blood," Sage quickly clarified. "I suppose I should start at the beginning," she said. "Sit down," she offered, pointing to a chair in the middle of the room.

Lily sat down.

"In the First Wizarding War, Voldemort's first rise to power there were many orphans left by the Death Eaters. I was one of them," Sage started. "At the age of five I lived at a center for refugees," she said. "Some Aurors helped out there and one of them was your grandmother."

"You knew my grandmother!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yes, she was like a mother to me," Sage said. "I only knew her for a year but in that time she made a difference in my life," she said.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"She had other obligations, the Order of Phoenix and of course a baby on the way," Sage explained.

"But that doesn't explain…" Lily started.

Sage held up her hands.

"I'm getting to it," she said. "After the war I went to school at Mahoutokoro in Japan," she said. "During the Second War I did my best to avoid the country where my parents had died. But when I found out that Lily Evans' son had defeated Voldemort that I couldn't ignore."

Lily smiled.

"I returned to Britain and joined the Auror department. And who was I partnered, with but your father," she said.

"So you worked with dad," Lily said.

"Yes I even met you and your brothers a few times but I guess I particularly took to you," she said.

"But why does Dad never talk about you… or mention you?" Lily asked.

For the first time Sage looked uncomfortable.

"Your father and I had different opinions on what tactics should be used against criminals. There was one particular incident… but the main thing is that right now I've been hired to investigate the tree's poisoning and I felt that it was a good time to check on you," she said.

"I knew you weren't here to inspect the school," said Lily.

"You are a curious child, Lily. Have all your questions been answered?" she asked.

"All but one," said Lily. "What's that old hat for?" she asked.

"It's a Portkey," said Sage. "Very useful for traveling long distances."

Sage smiled.

"Have a good day, Lily Potter," she said.

As Lily left she realized that the truth about Eve Sage was more complicated than she could have ever known.

**A/N: So what did you make of the last chapter? Were you surprised that Eve Sage knew Lily's grandmother and worked with her father? I might not update for a bit but it shouldn't be too long a wait. Thanks for reading! **


	9. Snowball Fights

Lily had a dream the night after talking to Eve Sage. It was really a memory in the form of a dream. She vaguely saw her father talking to her mother and Eve about something.

"Auntie Eve!" came a small voice.

Lily was vaguely aware that the voice was her. She hugged Eve's leg. Judging from her height Lily couldn't be older than three.

"I thought you were in bed, Lily," Eve said.

"I wuzzunt sweepy," Lily said in her small voice.

"It's past your bedtime, Lily," her mother instructed her.

"I not tired," Lily protested.

Eve grabbed her hand.

"Come on Lily, if you come up Auntie Eve will read you a bedtime story," she said.

Lily looked up at the woman expectantly.

"Pwomise?" she asked.

"Pinky promise," Eve said intertwining pinkies with the young girl.

The dream started to get hazy and soon Lily was being pulled awake by Jane.

"Wake up, Lily. We're going to be late for breakfast," said Jane.

Over breakfast Lily explained what she had learned from her conversation with Eve Sage.

"That's the exact words she used, your aunt," Jane asked.

"Yes," Lily said in between mouthfuls of waffle.

"That's kind of a generous way to describe yourself when she was just a family friend," said Jane.

Lily thought back to her dream.

"I think that's what I called her," Lily explained.

"Also why was she so fixated on you and not your brothers?" Jane asked.

Lily shrugged. "Maybe she's a girl person," she suggested.

"I can't blame her for that," said Jane. "By the way has Seth come to his senses yet?" she asked.

"No, as far as I know he's still living it up with Hugo," she said.

"Are you going to be at your grandparents' place for Christmas again?" Jane asked.

"No, I'll be at home, with just my immediate family," said Lily.

Lily's uncle Charlie was inviting the family to Romania to celebrate twenty five years as the Head of the Department for Protection and Regulation of Magical Creatures there. Since her Grandparents and some of her cousins were going the family had decided to celebrate Christmas separately. In truth Lily was happy about it. She wasn't particularly keen on seeing Hugo this holiday season.

After breakfast Lily went to a laid back Transfiguration class, in which they had only to perform four kinds of badgering spells and then they had free time for the rest of the period. Like last year the classes were very easy right before the Christmas holidays. In some classes like Potions the professors didn't even teach. Professor Krum was finally answering some questions about his Quidditch career.

"How many Galleons did you make when you played for Wimbourne Wasps?"

"Why did you catch the Snitch when your team was losing in the 1994 World Cup Final?"

"How did you know Tony Silva was Feinting in the 2014 final?"

Vun at a time please," said Krum. "Now Silva vould put his feet back ven accelerating and vas not doing zis ven he feinted," Krum explained.

Lily was mildly interested by Krum's Quidditch exploits but she couldn't help thinking about Eve Sage. She obviously deeply cared about Lily. Her father must know that. What could Eve have done that was so bad that she was cut off from Lily and the rest of the family? She simply couldn't comprehend what it might be.

Lily went back to Sage's office later in the day. She mentioned her dream/memory to Sage but the conversation mostly became friendly not unlike a visit with Hagrid.

"So what did you study at Mahoutokoro, DADA?" Lily inquired.

"No I was a Ghoul Studies girl," Sage said. "It's really a fascinating subject, too bad it's not as popular in Britain," she mused.

"So what have you uncovered about what's going on at Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

"Not as much as I'd hoped for, just that whoever it is is powerful enough to get through the castle's enchantments," she said.

"So maybe a teacher?" Lily asked.

"I've looked into all their backgrounds and nothing jumps out at me, maybe a disgruntled house elf or other creature," said Sage.

Lily remembered what she had heard in Diagon Alley. She had keyed in on the Dark Lady part but there had been more.

"_Yes they're intelligent genetically engineered."_

"Ms. Sage do you know anything about genetic engineering?" she asked.

"Not much, I think it's something Muggles do to make animals have desired traits," she answered.

"Do you think someone could do that to magical creatures?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, I'd have to ask someone who knows more about muggles," said Sage. "Do you think it will help me find out what's going on at Hogwarts?"

"I do," Lily answered truthfully.

"Then I'll look into it," she said.

The rest of the month passed quickly with few assignments being given. Before she knew it Lily was saying goodbye to Jane at Platform 9 ¾. Lily's parents picked up her and her brothers. The ride went quickly, mostly comprised of "How were your teachers/classes" kind of questions. When they got home Al stopped her before she went to her room.

"Lily, can I talk to you for a second," said Albus.

"Uh yeah sure," said Lily.

"Well I know you haven't been on good terms with Seth lately," he started.

Lily groaned. "I don't want to be bothered with this right now," she said.

"I just wanted to know if you'd reach out to him," said Albus.

"I did and he snubbed me!" Lily yelled angrily.

"I know," Albus said. "And Rose was talking to him and he said he felt bad about that," Albus said.

Lily stopped in surprise. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, I swear," Albus said.

"Well all right then I'll talk to him when classes start again," said Lily.

The Christmas holidays that year was a welcome change from the fun but overwhelming gathering at the Burrow the year before. Most of the time was spent at the park having snowball fights. The fights started with set rules but degenerated into a free-for- all with everything (including magic) being used. One time a Squib boy named Zeke who had just moved nearby asked to join in. Lily couldn't help noticing he had nice, wavy black hair that fell over his eyes. After the snowball fight ended they all sat down at two benches.

"You have a nice arm," said James. "How old are you?"

"I'm 13," he answered. "I'd be in third year if I was at Hogwarts," he said.

He went on to explain how he had pranked his art teacher who he described as having the looks of somewhere between a goblin and a troll.

"That's awesome, and with no magic," James said. "You're like the little brother I never had," he finished.

"Hey!" Albus said.

Zeke shook hands with them before they went their separate ways. When he held his hand out to Lily her heart quickened and she kept hold of his hand for a moment longer than she needed to. But this experience didn't trouble Lily for long. What was really bothering her was Eve Sage. She already deeply liked the woman and it still bothered her that her father had never mentioned her. At dinner, Christmas Eve she barely spoke a word.

"Are you feeling well Lily?" her father asked concernedly.

She nodded. It wasn't until later that night while her father was washing dishes that she worked up the courage to talk to him about Eve Sage.

"So did you here about the Whomping Willow getting poisoned?" Lily asked.

"Of course," Harry said.

"Well the school got someone to look into it, and I've been talking to her," said Lily.

"Why do you need to talk to her?" he said, still scrubbing a dish.

"Because she's my aunt," Lily said.

Harry stopped what he was doing, with a perplexed expression before he understood.

"So you know about Eve," he said.

"Yes I do," she said.

"I would stop talking to her if I were you," he said.

Anger bubbled up inside Lily at this comment.

"Why? She clearly cares about me. She's a good person, so why do you act like she doesn't exist," Lily spat.

Harry sighed. "The reason I cut off from Eve Sage was because you looked up to her and when she broke my trust I couldn't let her break yours, because I care about my family more than anything," he said.

"She saved my life," Lily said. "Is that something a bad person would do?"

"I'm not saying she's a bad person but she's not a good one either," he said. "Can you please promise me you won't talk to her anymore?" he pleaded.

Lily hesitated for a second.

"I promise," she said.

Her dad gave her a hug. As they broke apart Lily realized that this was the first time she had lied to her father.


	10. Portus

The day that Lily would be returning to Hogwarts was a chaotic affair. The whole family was scrambling around trying to get everything packed. Lily was usually good about packing the night before, but she'd had so much on her mind the night before that it had slipped her mind. She found herself packing her robes while brushing her teeth. Yells and rushed sprints across the hall indicated that her brothers hadn't packed either.

Lily heard the horn honk on the Potter's car.

"Lily we have to go now or we're going to miss the train!" her mother called.

"Just a minute, mom!" she yelled down.

She was in the midst of looking for her wand. She had searched every corner of her room. She overturned a pillow but it wasn't there either. She thought desperately where it could be. She couldn't go to Hogwarts without a wand. She kneeled and peered under her bed. She sighed in relief as she saw her familiar, old, willow wand. She grabbed it and headed to the car with her owl and suitcase. James and Albus were already in the backseat. James gave her a smirk.

"Did you have to get your makeup on sis?" James asked wryly.

"Shut up James," she said.

Lily's father was driving since he was the only one who'd bothered to get a muggle driving license. The drive was quick. Lily knew that her father was going faster than usual to make up for the time they had lost. Even with this boost the Hogwarts Express was almost leaving when they reached Platform 9 ¾. The potters rushed onto the train. Lily had to catch her breath before finding a seat. The train started leaving the platform almost immediately. Lily kept walking until she found Jane sitting in a compartment alone, reading a copy of _Quidditch Monthly_.

"What's going on, Jane?" she asked after opening up the door to the compartment.

Jane brushed her black hair out of her eyes, looked up and grinned.

"Lily! I thought you had missed the train," Jane said.

"Well I came pretty close," Lily responded. "I didn't even get a chance to eat breakfast, do you know where the food trolley went?" she asked.

"The woman running it just went that way," Jane said pointing to the left and looking back to her magazine.

Lily left the compartment to look for the snack lady, but she ran into a different person.

"Seth!" she said. "How've you been?" she asked awkwardly.

"Oh fine," Seth said. "I was just looking for you," he said.

"Why?" Lily asked, feigning ignorance even though she had a pretty good idea.

"Well I thought I'd apologize to you for being such an idiot these last few months," he said. "I'd really like to hang out like we used to," he finished.

"You're not too busy hanging out with Hugo?" Lily asked with a bitterness that she didn't really mean.

"No, to be honest he's nice and all but… you and Jane are my best friends," he said.

"I'm sorry too," said Lily. "I shouldn't have been rude to you, you're my best friend too," she said.

"Cool," Seth said. "Can I come sit with you and Jane?" he asked.

"Sure, but first I really need something to eat," Lily said.

After purchasing several treats from the trolley they went back to Jane. Jane seemed a bit cold to Seth at first but gradually they started to converse and it was almost like the previous two months had never happened. After a brief discussion about Christmas presents (Jane had nearly cheered when she found out Lily had gotten Loudmouths) Seth wanted to know what they had found out about the Dark Lady.

It took a pretty good amount of time for Lily to explain everything that she had learned about Eve Sage, her theories about the Dark Lady and her suspicions that the Dark Lady was connected to what had been going on at Hogwarts.

"So you think Morgan Le Fay is the Dark Lady and she traveled a thousand years in the future to get here?" Seth asked.

"Yes," Lily said.

"It's not very plausible but definitely possible," he said.

Lily couldn't help thinking that Seth was being civil because it was something that Seth would normally shoot down immediately. Seth seemed more interested in the Eve Sage situation.

"I think that she knows more than she's letting on," Seth theorized.

"Why is that?" Lily asked.

"She's a former Auror who's smart enough to have been hired by Sinistra, and all she knows is there's something powerful enough to break the castle's enchantments? It doesn't make sense," Seth explained.

"Well her problem could be that she might not be able to navigate the building," said Lily. "I mean the castle is almost like a labyrinth and for a person who's only seen the place for a few months…" she let the sentence hang open.

"Maybe, we should start looking for ourselves," Jane suggested.

Before anyone could agree or object they heard the train come to a halt. They had reached Hogsmeade Station. They boarded the carriages to the castle, and before they could finish their topic of discussion, they stumbled into a discussion with Ethan Jordan about Hufflepuff's next Quidditch match against Gryffindor.

Soon the carriages pulled up to the castle. As they walked into the castle Lily was met by Eve Sage.

"Hello Miss Sage," she said. She was surprised to see Sage here.

"Hello, Lily," she said. "Did you have a good break?" she asked.

"Yes it was great," she said.

Her voice cracked slightly at the word "great". Her mind had inadvertently wandered to her lie to her father. Eve didn't seem to notice.

"Well I asked a friend of mine from the Muggle Liaison office of the Ministry about genetic engineering," she said.

"What did he say?" Lily asked.

"He started talking about 'DNA splicing' or something like that but the main thing I got is that it had been used on magical creatures but it's a lost art," she said.

"When was the last time it was used?" Lily asked, hoping she didn't hear the answer she expected.

"Oh, not since medieval times. You mustn't let it worry you," she said.

Lily's heart sank.

"Thank you for telling me," she said before turning around to go to the Hufflepuff basement.

It seemed more and more like her theory about Morgan Le Fay having traveled in time was true. But Lily realized that she hadn't totally thought about what this could mean. She knew Morgan was planning something here at Hogwarts but what else might she be planning to do. Start a war? Overthrow the Ministry? Lily had no way of knowing what she was planning and no way of stopping it.

She decided to go to sleep early today, so she would be rested during classes the next day. She fell asleep quickly, but woke up again in the middle of the night. After a good half hour of not being able to sleep, she groaned. Then Lily heard something. It was the buzzing sound again. This time she did something about it. She grabbed her wand and an Extendable Ear and went upstairs to the hall by the kitchens. She followed the sound until she was just outside the great hall. She heard the buzzing loud and clear. She also heard tiny voices. She put the Extendable Ear up to the door.

"Can't we skip it this month," said one voice.

"No, our instructions are clear, every month we have to renew the charm," said another voice. "The island could go under at any time," it said.

"Yes but we could just wait a few days," said the other one.

"The island could go under tomorrow, now shut up and renew the charm," said the first voice.

"Fine, _Portus_!" the other voice said. "Now let's go before someone finds us," it said.

Lily immediately sprinted back to her dormitory. She didn't want to face the things she'd heard until she knew exactly what the creatures were. She now knew two things for sure. The thing that was wrong with Hogwarts had something to do with Avalon and involved a Portkey.

"A portkey! What's the use of a Portkey," said Seth at breakfast the next morning.

"Well I don't know," Lily said.

"You said that they mentioned Avalon," said Jane.

"Yeah," Lily said.

"Well Morgan's kingdom was Avalon, maybe she wants to save it," said Jane.

"That wouldn't explain why it's at Hogwarts. Whatever she's doing I know it's so she can destroy Hogwarts," said Lily.

"Well then how could a Portkey destroy Hogwarts?" asked Jane.

Then a look of stunned realization passed Seth's face.

"It could if it was big enough to transport a castle and not just a person. It would transport us all to Avalon and Hogwarts would go down with the island," he said.

"But how could you hide something that big in the middle of the Great Hall?" Lily asked.

Seth just pointed behind her, and she looked to see the giant blue jewel mounted on the wall.


	11. A Very Weasley Duel

To say that Lily's mind wasn't on the game the day of the Quidditch match against Gryffindor was putting it mildly. She had been planning out how to stop the creatures from renewing the Portus charm for weeks. She knew that if Eve Sage hadn't been able to find them that she wouldn't have any better luck. She had to wait for the next time they would be renewing the Portus charm. With all that was happening Quidditch was the last thing on her mind.

"Lily, are you going to eat anything?" Seth asked her.

"What? Oh, I'm not hungry," Lily answered.

"Come on, eat some eggs, you have to keep your strength up," said Jane.

Lily mumbled a response before swallowing a few forkfuls of egg and a quarter of a bagel.

Soon the Hufflepuff Quidditch team was called to their quarters. After quickly getting her Quidditch robes on, Lily joined the team to listen to Applebee's speech.

"Today, we shouldn't go out on the pitch expecting to see the team we beat last year in the Quidditch Cup. We need to go out with the mentality that we're playing the team that is the toughest challenge we'll face on the road to…"

Lily tuned out after a while. Who did Applebee think he was kidding? They had beaten Gryffindor the year before when her cousin Dominique was on the team. Now she had graduated and they had Robin at Beater. _Maybe Robin could help stop the creatures _Lily wondered before realizing how ridiculous the idea would be.

The Hufflepuff team entered the pitch where the Gryffindor team already awaited. Lily positioned herself high in the air where she had a bird's eye view. After the captains shook hands, the Snitch was released and the match started. Lily flew around the field but she saw no gold.

The Gryffindor stands were the first to break out into applause as their team scored. However within ten minutes Hufflepuff had scored twice. About half an hour in Lily saw a glint of gold but quickly lost it.

A while later she heard another cheer. She saw that Hufflepuff had scored again. She watched as one Gryffindor Chaser cut through the Hufflepuff defense as the other two attacked the goalposts from opposite directions. The right Chaser threw the Quaffle at Lysander who saved it, but the Chaser who had cut through the Hufflepuff team knocked it back in making the score 70-50 Hufflepuff.

"Come on, grab the deflections," said Applebee. "Lily, get back to looking for the Snitch," he said.

Lily started looking for the tiny, golden, projectile. Then she saw it near the ground. Then after a moment she saw James going for it. In a panic Lily streaked off for it. But she had no chance to make it before her brother. She prayed for a Bludger, and it came from Robin Wood. It shot at James.

It was a half second too late. James grabbed the snitch and the Bludger went right behind him. He held it up gleaming as the Gryffindors burst into raucous cheering.

"Gryffindor takes the game, 200-70. Hufflepuff fought valiantly, but their four match win streak is over," said Ethan Jordan.

Only after hearing the second year commentator's somber announcement did it sink in to Lily that she had lost her first ever Quidditch match.

The tone of the Hufflepuff Common room later that day was disappointed, but true to their nature many people in her house had been supportive. She heard comments like "You gave it your all," and "It was a good game." Applebee told the whole team that they had shown fight but needed to play better. Privately, Lily knew she had let down her team, and had to make up for it next game. But for now she had other things to worry about.

"We need to have an airtight plan for this. We can't go in without knowing what we're doing," said Seth

"How do we plan for this when we don't even know what the creatures are?" Jane asked.

"They're small creatures that possess at least rudimentary magic," said Seth. "That's enough to at least get something of a plan started," he said.

"I have an idea," Lily said.

"What?" Seth and Jane asked in unison.

"How about something that can incapacitate any creature and could alert the whole bloody building if things go downhill?" Lily asked.

Jane just laughed. "Oh that's good," Seth said smiling.

Lily had to admit she was scared. She had an airtight plan and she'd been in more dangerous situations before. She would've thought that the stomach tying fear would be lessened. Apparently that's not the way it worked. She swallowed hard as she heard the voices again.

"When will the island be drowned?" one voice asked.

"Soon, it will be soon, we must finish our job," the other said.

"But it has been so many days," it answered.

Then suddenly they came into view. Lily was standing right outside the entrance to the Great Hall with her wand drawn. They were small, electric blue creatures. They could be no more than a foot tall. They had pointy ears and long spindly limbs. Lily knew them as pixies. It felt silly that the things she thought of as simple pests were the things she had been scared of. But she knew these had to be taken seriously. They had nearly killed her twice.

"Striki, it has found us," said one.

"Stay calm Priki," Striki said. "Little girl shouldn't you be in bed?"

"No thanks I'm good here," she said in what she hoped was a strong confident voice.

"Move aside little girl, we must get in," said Lily.

"Let's talk first," Lily said. "You're both pixies but you can talk, I've never heard that before," she said.

"The Dark Lady, she made us smart," said Striki.

"So by the Dark Lady, who do you mean?" she said.

"The Lady from another time," said Priki.

"Be quiet Priki," the other one screeched.

"So it was Morgan Le Fay, so she made you smarter in exchange for infiltrating Hogwarts?" said Lily.

"We just had to make the thing glow pretty and she would make us smart," Priki said happily.

"Priki, I said be quiet!" Striki yelled again.

"Then the bad lady came and tried to stop us," said Priki.

"You mean Eve?" Lily asked.

"Yes she would've caught us, but then we found the map," said Striki.

"My brother's map! You took it!" Lily exclaimed.

"With the map we could get around the castle without nobody knowing," Striki said.

"So the only thing I don't get. Why poison the tree? And make the room shrink?" said Lily.

"We had so many days. So many days cooped up doing nothing," Striki said.

"Of course, you're pixies so mischief is part of your nature. No amount of "genetic engineering" could change that," said Lily.

"Let us through little girl," Striki said.

There was a moment of silence then a golden colored jet shot from Striki's hand and hit the door next to Lily. Lily cast a knock back jinx that missed them. Then behind them Jane and Seth threw off the invisibility cloak and sprung into action. At first the element of surprise carried them. Seth and Jane barely missed with freezing charms. Lily hit Priki with _Verdmillious Duo _temporarily putting him out of the duel.

But the pixies' size and speed worked against them. Striki managed to dodge all their spells and hit some of his own. Finally he cast a red jet of light with both hands and they hit Seth and Jane. Before Lily could respond Priki recovered and disarmed her.

"Our mistress said that one called Potter might try to stop us," Striki taunted. "Are you the one called Potter," he asked.

"Yes, I'm Lily Potter," Lily said. "But I'm not just a Potter," she said. "I'm also… a Weasley," she finished.

Lily reached into her pocket, took out three loudmouths and slammed them on the ground with her fist. She covered her ears immediately, but could still hear the sound. The pixies arms couldn't reach their ears with their hands. After a few seconds they fell to the ground unconscious. Lily hit the loudmouths again, turning them off.

Professor Butler was the first one to find her.

"Lily, what's going on?" she asked.

"I can explain everything," said Lily. "But first I need to thank Fred and Roxanne."

But many miles away in the island of Avalon everything was still going according to plan.


	12. Of Butterbeer and Birthdays

Lily had stopped in many times during the month of April to find out how things were going with the pixies. She had been pleasantly surprised that the pixies had confessed to everything and the jewel was being removed from the Great Hall. The only thing they hadn't admitted to was that they were working with Morgan Le Fay and to where they were they were sending the school. Lily had told them this repeatedly. She had also written to her father. The only response she had gotten was this cryptic one.

_Stay in the Hufflepuff Common Room till 9:30. Watch the fire._

"What do you think that means? Watch the fire?" asked Lily.

"Maybe he's Flooing to Hogwarts," said Jane.

"You can't Floo into fireplaces in House Common Rooms. I read it in Hogwarts: A History," Seth said.

"Well we'd better do it," Lily said. "If my dad doesn't get on top of this soon Morgan will already have gone into hiding," she said.

Pieces of parchment were being passed around the breakfast table. Lily, Jane and Seth each took one. Lily looked down to see the words on the parchment.

_Arithmancy_

_ Astronomy_

_ Care of Magical Creatures_

_ Divination_

_ Muggle Studies_

_ Study of Ancient Runes_

"We're choosing electives for next year!" Seth said happily.

They all agreed to take Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. Lily and Jane signed up for Astronomy as their second elective. Seth first signed up for Arithmancy then Astronomy. He seemed ready to sign up for more classes but decided against it after Lily warned him against taking too many classes.

Before they left for classes Lily walked over to the Gryffindor table. Her brother James was in the middle of a large crowd of Gryffindors, which she noticed was around three quarters female.

"James!" she called.

"What is it?" he asked.

She pulled out the yellowed document from her pocket and handed it to him.

"The Marauder's Map!" he yelled excitedly. "How did you get it?" he asked.

"A couple pixies nicked it. They had it in one of the secret passages," said Lily. "You owe me one," she said before leaving.

Classes had gotten more rigorous. It seemed Lily couldn't go more than five minutes without a professor mentioning the importance of the upcoming second year exams.

Jane brought this point up after Professor Flitwick told her she would need to improve her Skurge charm before the Charms exam.

"I swear if I had a butterbeer for every time I hear about second year exams," she said ruefully.

"We'll be able to drink a lot more of it once Hogsmeade trips start next year," said Lily.

"Everything's going to change next year," said Jane. "Electives, Hogsmeade trips, it'll be like a different world," she said.

Lily agreed although she privately doubted that taking trips to a nearby village three times a year would change their life that much. After classes were over Lily and Jane returned to the Hufflepuff Basement with Seth telling them to inform him of any news they got. Jane and Lily started on their homework in the Common Room. They took to checking the time on the Grandfather Clock every few minutes.

"Do you know the third ingredient in Hair raising potions," Jane asked.

"Huh?" Lily asked distracted by the clock.

"Potions essay?" Jane asked.

"Oh um, I think it's doxy eggs," Lily said.

She noticed that she and Jane wee the only one's still awake. After what seemed like an eternity it was 9:30. Jane and Lily both waited with baited breath for something to happen.

Then something did happen. The fire roared and a face appeared in it. The face of Lily's father.

"Dad!" she yelled.

"Not so loud, you don't want to wake your housemates up," Harry said.

"Can we talk? How are you doing this?" Lily asked.

"I'm using the Floo Network and yes we can talk," he said. "Who's that with you?" Harry asked.

"I'm Jane Macmillan. Hello Mr. Potter," she said.

"Pleased to meet you Jane," Harry said. "So Lily, I heard you have something to tell me about the pixies," he said.

Lily began her story. She told him everything that she had read up on in the Room of Requirement, her theories about Morgan Le Fay and having them confirmed during her confrontation with the pixies. The length of the events meant that the story took a long time to tell. Finally, Lily finished. Harry didn't speak for a while.

"So what do you think?" Lily urged.

"I think that you're probably right," Harry said. "Based on what I've heard from those who interrogated the pixies it adds up," he said.

"Who did you get it from," Lily asked excitedly thinking of Eve.

"Professor Longbottom," Harry answered as Lily's heart sank. "But basically one of them confessed to planting the portkey and renewing the Portus charm," he said.

"Did they ask what and who it was for," Jane asked, speaking up.

"They claimed it was a prank that they did of their own accord," Harry said. 

"So are you going to go to Avalon and stop Morgan," said Lily.

"It's not that simple," Harry said. "The Ministry has no idea when the island will be flooded and doesn't want to put Aurors in a dangerous situation," he said.

"But you have to go now! If you don't soon Morgan will have already left," Lily said.

"Calm down, I'm working as fast as I can, and just because I can't go in doesn't mean I've been doing nothing," Harry said.

"What have you been doing?" Jane asked.

"We've set up enchantments outside the island. If anyone goes in or out we'll know," he answered.

Jane looked satisfied and maybe even a little impressed with this answer. Lily was more skeptical. Her father was a powerful wizard but she worried that Morgan Le Fay could get around even his enchantments.

"So, Lily did you say everything you wanted to?" Harry asked.

Lily nodded.

"Well even though I'm a few hours early, I think this is a good time to wish you a happy birthday," Harry said.

Lily laughed.

"What is it?" Jane asked.

"It's just… with everything going on I completely forgot," Lily said.

**A/N: Really Sorry for the long gap between updates. Three more chapters left. Next one should be out soon.**


	13. The Clue of the Missing Cane

Lily's birthday went about as well as she could've hoped. She got a box of Chocolate Frogs from Jane and a book on Transfiguration (a subject which she had been growing more and more interested in) from Seth. Her cousins had all gotten her an assortment of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products. Her last gift, from her parents was undoubtedly the best of all. It was the new Cleansweep XIX. While Cleansweep hadn't been the golden standard in brooms the new model certainly beat out the old Nimbus she'd been using.

Lily hadn't had much free time between studying for exams and preparing for the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin. There was a lot of pressure on Lily as it was imperative that she catch the Snitch, for Hufflepuff to have any chance of winning the Quidditch Cup. This had been coming out in practice, as Applebee was as hard on them as she could remember.

"Lily, you have to stop relaxing as you get close to the Snitch. You never know when a Bludger might come at you," he said.

Lily nodded in understanding.

The Quidditch match was preceded by a long speech by Applebee, about how they just needed to concentrate on this Quidditch match and they needn't be bothered by where they were in the Cup, or what Gryffindor did next week. Lily flew onto the field inspired and determined for the match. She was just about to get into her zone when she heard a voice.

"Hey Potter!"

It was Slytherin's new seeker, Scorpius Malfoy. She knew him vaguely from seeing him in the halls and of course, some less than flattering comments her uncle Ron had made about his family.

"Do you hear me? Your name is Potter, right," he said sarcastically.

"Yes, what do you want?" she asked.

"I just wanted to wish you luck. It should be a good match," he said.

He extended his hand. She looked at the hand nervously, wondering if it was some kind of trick.

"You can shake it, I don't bite," he said.

With a sigh she quickly gave his hand a firm shake, then flew off. It had been one of the oddest things that had ever happened to her on a Quidditch pitch. She looked down at her hand to make sure Malfoy hadn't put some kind of substance to weaken her, but quickly had to look up as the Snitch was released and the match started.

Within a few minutes she knew why Malfoy had been so sportsmanlike before the match, and it wasn't some death plot or even to psyche her out. Scorpius Malfoy was possibly the dirtiest Seeker she had ever played against. Every time they were in the same area of the pitch he made contact with her. Every time she looked desperately to Madam Bell, but Malfoy had a knack for getting her right as she wasn't looking. About a half hour through she saw the Snitch. As she was flying towards it he grabbed the back of her broom stopping her progress. She pushed him away. He proceeded to act as if he had been mauled by a Manticore as they got near Madam Bell.

"Did you see that?" he protested.

"What I saw was you blagging Potter," said Madam Bell.

She blew her whistle and ordered a penalty for Hufflepuff. While Applebee scored, making the score 50-10 Hufflepuff, she had lost a golden opportunity to catch the Snitch. She groaned.

After another fifteen minutes in which Hufflepuff scored twice more, Malfoy once again came at her, elbows raised. She was ready this time and quickly swerved out of the way. Then she saw the Snitch above her. Malfoy was closer to it, but since he was off balance from his attempted cobbing she got a head start. She easily grabbed the snitch, making sure to watch for Bludgers.

"Hufflepuff wins! They now will go into the game against Gryffindor in first place by one hundred-fifty points," said Ethan Jordan.

Lily walked off smiling, knowing that she had at least given her team a chance to take the Cup once again. She took the next weekend as a good day to talk to Eve again. It had been long enough that she thought she might as well check in. When she entered the caretaker's office she saw that Eve looked troubled. She was packing her things.

"Hey," Lily said.

Eve turned around.

"Oh, nice to see you Lily," she said.

"You too. Are you leaving?" she asked.

"It seems so. The authorities seem to think they don't need my help," she said bitterly.

"You don't think so?" Lily asked.

Eve sighed. "Nothing makes sense," she said. "Why were the pixies so quick to admit to everything, why haven't Morgan's people left the island when it's only a matter of time before the Ministry invades it?" she asked.

"You think that there's more to this?" Lily asked.

"Unfortunately, I do. When you've been through what I have, you know when something seems too easy," Eve said.

"Ms. Sage," came a voice from behind Lily.

Lily turned around to find the Hogwarts Headmistress behind her.

"I wanted to tell you that Professor Hagrid set up your portkey back home, by his shack," Sinistra said.

"Thank you Aurora," she said.

"You're welcome, thank you for your help," said Sinistra.

Sinistra didn't seem to notice or simply chose to ignore Lily. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. Lily had indeed felt uneasy about the whole Avalon plot. And now she was getting the information that she wasn't the only one from a person who was about to leave. She watched the investigator and headmistress finish their conversation, before the latter walked out.

"Wait!" Lily cried.

Sinistra stopped in her tracks.

"Is there something you'd like to ask me, Ms. Potter?" she asked.

"Sorry professor, but you've been using a cane. What happened?" Lily asked.

"Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion to treat the illness that was affecting my leg. It healed," she said.

"But you've still been using it for speeches, in the great hall," said Lily.

"I got comfortable using it. Like a security blanket," said Sinistra. "May I ask why you're asking these questions?" she queried.

"Look, just tell me, where did you get it?" Lily asked.

"At a merchant in Hogsmeade, last summer," Sinistra answered. "Now can you please explain to me the reasoning for these questions?" she asked.

"Just- just one more question," said Lily. "Have you been keeping it in the Great Hall?"

Sinistra, looking very perturbed uttered one word "Yes."

Lily had taken off running. She sprinted down the hall, and then down the four flights of stairs. She ran into the library, disturbing most of the people and earning a look from the librarian. She ignored them and found Seth at a table by the window studying.

"Seth," she said, catching her breath.

"Lily, what is it?" he questioned in surprise.

"I need you to focus. This is important," Lily said.

"Yeah," said Seth, drawing out the word in puzzlement.

"What made you think the jewel was the portkey?" Lily asked.

His expression changed to the thoughtful look he got when he was trying to remember something.

"I remembered from a book that portkeys always glow blue," he said.

Lily let loose a string of words that would make her cousin Teddy blush.

"Lily," Seth said raising his eyebrows.

"We were wrong Seth, the jewel was never the portkey," she said.

She ran off again quickly, barely hearing Seth as he tried to ask what she had meant. She felt the wind behind her. Her head was pounding as she ran. The Great Hall was within sight. Then she tripped over an invisible obstacle. She turned around to see Klara Chang holding up her wand.

"What is wrong with you, Potter, you certainly seem to be in a rush," she said.

Lily cursed. Klara had stayed out of her hair almost the entire year, and had to interfere now! The fate of the entire school was in the balance and this stuck up Ravenclaw was in her way.

"First disturbing the library, now swearing. You certainly aren't being much of a Hufflepuff today," she said snottily.

Lily got up slowly feeling her wand in her pocket.

"Klara if you're ever going to listen to me, please do now. If you don't let me in the Great Hall people will _die_, so I beg you to let me go," she said.

"Sorry Potter, as much as I do like to hear you beg me, I'm not stupid. So instead you're going to stay here and tell me why you really want to go to the Great Hall and the-"

Klara was cut off as Lily quickly brandished, her wand and yelled _Pertrificus Totalus. _Klara's body stiffened up and fell as Lily ran into the Great Hall. She ran up to the staff table and found Sinistra's seat. She found the cane glowing blue and eerily humming. Then a blue, glowing sphere seemed to start growing from it. It was growing bigger exponentially, and Lily knew it would soon overcome the entire castle. Desperately she caught it in her hand.

Lily felt like she was being pulled up, and then suddenly started to fall downwards. As she hit the ground the first thing she noticed was the sandy beach that was under her and the sound of the waves coming in. It took her a moment to realize she was not alone. A female figure stood over her.

"Hello, Lily Potter. I'm so happy that we could finally meet," said the woman.

Lily looked up to find herself face to face with Morgan Le Fay.


	14. Finally Face to Face

"Hello," Lily said weakly. "Nice to meet you too."

"Thank you and welcome to Avalon," Morgan said, flourishing her hand to indicate the landscape of the island.

The landscape was mostly rocky. There was a cliff behind where Morgan stood. To the side was a hill sloping upwards. On the edge of the cliff, at the top of the hills was what remained of Morgan's castle. Dark clouds had formed above them.

"Yeah, nice place. Too bad about the flooding thing," Lily said.

"I know. The ocean has already come in miles. Most of the island is already underwater," Morgan said wistfully. "Soon it will rain and all this will be no more," she finished.

Lily was desperately scanning to see if there were more of Morgan's servants around, but for now she didn't see anyone.

"Don't worry, there's no one here," she said, see. "This was always a one woman operation. Those that serve me are onto other things," she said.

Lily finally took a good look at Morgan. She was tall and thin, with clear skin and dirty blond hair. She should have been beautiful. But there was something about the mad gleam in her blue eyes. The expression of cold calculation on her face that seemed to indicate that she would destroy the world if it fit into her equation, made her seem quite ugly indeed.

"Are you sad about seeing this place go?" Lily asked.

Lily's heart seemed to be pounding out a harder beat than most Horatio Warbeck songs. She was trying desperately to keep Morgan talking while she could think of some plan. But right now she was coming up empty. Her latest question seemed to give Morgan some genuine thought. Lily briefly noticed it had started to rain slightly.

"I suppose the island does give me some sentimental charm," she said. "I have many happy memories from my time here, but being beaten does seem to lessen the charm a bit," she remarked.

"I understand," Lily said nodding.

"Now Lily, are you at all curious to know why I tried to destroy your school?" Morgan asked.

"I am, but I'm surprised you care," Lily said.

"No it's fine. Considering the trouble you went through to try and save it I think you should know," Morgan said.

"Alright, so why?" Lily asked.

"There are a variety of reasons why Hogwarts had to be eliminated. It is an old castle that contains vast knowledge of some things that I'd prefer be secret. Some of the most powerful wizards and witches teach there. But above all Hogwarts represents the spirit of the people, and that must be crushed," she finished.

"I don't understand the last part," Lily said.

Morgan sighed.

"Hogwarts has been a sanctuary since it's inception. Initially it was a sanctuary from the very same war from which I was transported in time," she said. "Once it and all the students and teachers that reside there are eradicated, the one symbol, that represents the hope of the people would be gone. With the hope of the people gone, the battle is already won."

Only when this monologue was finished did the true madness of Morgan reveal itself to Lily. She found it hard to even say anything.

"And now we must address you, Lily," she said. "You are obviously a talented witch. You have proven that, by being a thorn in my side the last two years. I do value talent. I really do. Which is why it pains me to have to kill you," she said.

Lily made a dive for the portkey. Morgan had quickly brought out her own wand and as if by some invisible rope, took hold of the cane and cast it into the sea. It was raining very hard now and the waves were coming in. Lily ran up the hill, away from Morgan. It only took a moment before Morgan apparated in front of her but it gave her time to take out her wand.

"_Conjunctivo!" _Lily screamed.

Morgan easily deflected the spell. She then muttered a complicated incantation, and a blue spell just missed Lily. They had reached the castle ruins. Lily ducked behind a large stone pillar and shot a Knockback curse at Morgan. Morgan just laughed as it sailed over her. Lily felt the water reach her feet. The waves were coming ever closer.

"C_onfringo!" _Morgan screamed and the pillar exploded.

Lily fell to the ground, dropping her wand.

"_Arrricus Duo," _Morgan said.

Two jets of orange light hit her legs. She cried out. It was like two knives stabbing her. She desperately tried to get up, but Morgan who was slowly walking towards her, flicked her wand and a wave from behind her crashed onto her, making her fall back down. She got up one last time. The waves were all around them now. The water was up to her knees. She desperately grabbed for her wand. She held it up.

"It's over, Lily," Morgan taunted.

Before Lily could utter a word something flew out of her wand. It was just wisps of white light at first. But then they began to take a form. Morgan's eyes went from menacing glee to horror. The white light became the ghost of a woman. A woman that looked a lot like Lily. The ghost flew at Morgan. Morgan fell over and was overtaken by a wave. She resurfaced, let out one last scream and was pulled back under.

The waves were now above Lily's waist. She could barely stand. Just as she was about to give up she saw a person run up. It was her father! He grabbed her.

"Hold on!" he said.

And then everything went black.

When Lily woke up she was in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. She had been taken there for her legs. Apparently the curse Morgan had hit her with was more serious than she had originally thought. Luckily the Healers had worked fast and she had been able to avoid any serious lasting injury.

Seth and Jane had visited twice. Seth had gone to the Headmistress right after Lily had talked to him in the library. She had in turn contacted Lily's father who Apparated to Avalon immediately. If he had been half a minute later Lily would be dead. Seth and Jane wanted to hear the entire story. Lily told them everything, except about the last part. She had told everyone that Morgan was so focused on Lily that she had let herself be overtaken by the waves, but Lily could tell no one was buying it.

She didn't tell anyone the truth until the day Eve Sage stopped by. It was the last day before Lily could go back to Hogwarts and she was listening to the radio when Eve came in.

"Lily," she said. "I'm so glad to see you. Are you feeling better?" she said.

"Better than I was," Lily said.

"I can't believe you went through all that," Eve said. "You went face to face with Morgan Le Fay!"

"I have a question about that," Lily said.

Lily went through the whole story. The conversation she had with Le Fay. The duel, and finally being saved by what seemed like her grandmother's ghost.

"But what I don't understand is that my grandma, you know, went on to whatever's next," Lily said. "So how did her ghost save me? I thought you might know, since you studied Ghoul Studies," Lily said.

"Well this is getting more into Necromancy, but I do think I know the answer," Eve said. "You use your Grandmother's old wand, correct?" she asked.

Lily nodded.

"Sometimes, you can leave an imprint of yourself, a kind of copy of your soul, on some object that's important to you," said Eve. "It can be brought out by a variety of things, and a grandchild in danger certainly qualifies," Eve said

"So that wasn't my grandmum?" Lily asked.

"No, just a kind of rough copy," said Eve. "But I know her and if it was her she'd have fought all the harder," Eve finished.

"Thank you," Lily said and reached out to hug her.

They embraced for a moment before Lily's father walked in. Eve quickly let her go.

"Hello, Harry," she said. "I'm sorry, I know you're probably mad and you have a right to be, but when I heard what had happened I just had to see-

"Eve," he said, cutting her off. "I understand. I've been thinking. It's been a long time since we had our… disagreement and you and Lily really seem to get along well," he said. "So I think if you really have changed…" Harry said.

"I have," Eve said. "I'm truly sorry about the things I said, and did back then."

"In that case you'll always be welcome in the Potter household," Harry said.

Lily pumped her fist.

"Thank you Harry, maybe we could all have tea sometime," she said. "Have a good summer, Lily," she said before leaving.

After the encounter, Lily told everyone the truth about what had happened on Avalon. The last few weeks at Hogwarts went quickly. Second year exams were pretty easy. Much to Lily's chagrin Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup despite ending the season tied with Hufflepuff on points. The rules stated that in the case of a tie the team that won the head-to-head matchup between the teams won the cup. It was the first Quidditch cup decided in this fashion since the 1910's.

After the Gryffindor match Applebee had patted her on the back and said, "We'll get them next year."

Despite the heaviness of the events Lily was playful with Jane and Seth on the train home from Hogwarts.

"What kind of demented mind do you have?" Lily asked Jane.

"Well what would be the problem with a life sized version of Exploding Snap?" Jane asked.

"I don't know, maybe because it's _exploding," _said Seth.

For one small moment it seemed like everything was going to quiet down, and Lily's life would return to normal. Then, suddenly Ethan Jordan opened up their compartment door.

"Oy have you lot heard the news?" he asked excitedly.

"No what is it?" Seth asked.

"Look at this headline," Ethan said, showing a copy of the Prophet. "The whole world is going to change."

**A/N: And to find out what this world changing event is… you'll have to wait for the third installment of the Lily Potter series, "Lily Potter and the Potion of Magic" to come out. Yes I am that cruel! But, other things you'll see in this third installment.**

**That disagreement between Lily's dad and Eve? You'll find out a lot more about what happened, as well as more Eve Sage in general.**

**Romance has only been hinted at very briefly so far. You'll see more of that in the next book.**

**You may have noticed Lily and Klara's rivalry took a bit of a backseat this book compared to the first one. It'll be back with a vengeance in book three.**

**Hogsmeade trips and electives. How will these change the lives of our characters?**

**Lots more action packed adventure! **


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